Co Meath/€1.4m: Former rectories are highly sought-after for their period looks and easily managed small land holdings. Two such properties, in Meath and Carlow,  have just come on the market, writes Jack Fagan, Property Editor

It is seldom enough that you come across a period house that has been refurbished three times in the past 12 years but that is exactly what has happened to the Old Rectory in Beauparc, Co Meath, which goes to auction on July 15th. HOK Residential is quoting a guide price of €1.4 million.

The four-bedroom house was extensively remodelled and upgraded in 1992 by the late Liz Bourke, a bloodstock breeder, when she moved there after selling Stackallen Estate. A subsequent owner and the present vendor have also had a go at refining its facilities with the result that the house is now in impeccable condition, according to the selling agent.

It stands on delightful grounds of 4.5 acres which includes a two-bedroom staff house and two loose boxes.

As the name suggests, the Old Rectory is precisely that - a three-storey house built 200 years ago by the Church of Ireland beside the local church and railway station.

The church has since been demolished and the only trains using the tiny station these days run mainly in the middle of the night from the Tara Mines lead and zinc mine in Navan to the boats in Drogheda.

Beauparc is little more than a hamlet, about two miles off the Dublin-Slane road. The village has neither a pub, school nor a church, just an overgrown graveyard, and a handful of houses clustered at the entrance to Beauparc Estate which was inherited by Lord Henry Mountcharles.

Although the Old Rectory has 418 sq m (4,500 sq ft) of floor space over three levels, it is a perfectly manageable house. It is an ideal house for entertaining with a particularly handsome drawingroom with high windows overlooking the front and rear gardens and an attractive white marble fireplace with Georgian grate. There is also a diningroom and study at hall level.

The kitchen opens on to a sun trap patio at the back of the house. The kitchen has new high quality wall-mounted glazed cabinets, matching floor units and an island working area with granite worktop.

There is also an office, toilet and several stores at garden level as well as one of the four bedrooms.

The other three with en suites are on the top floor; none better than the main bedroom suite which has a superb bathroom. HOK advises viewers that Beauparc is within 35 minutes' drive of Dublin Airport and the M50. However, they fail to point out that, like the trains, that can only be done in the middle of the night. At busy times it takes about double that time.