Tullyard Estate dates back to the mid-1600s when Samuel Winter, 10th provost of Trinity College Dublin, acquired vast parklands just outside Trim, Co Meath.
His descendant, John Pratt Winter, high sheriff of Meath, it is believed, commissioned Sir Richard Morrison, who was architect of Trinity College from 1806 to 1831, to design the fine three-bay two-storey residence, which was completed in 1808.
Modest is not quite the word to describe an estate house standing at 512sq m (5,509sq ft) on 189 acres, but there is a sense of discreet grandeur about the place.
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Reception rooms are more relaxed than formal, even with their statement period features such as deep door cases and antique fireplaces.
Charm
The essence of Tullyard is something money cannot buy and few design briefs can deliver. That is charm; an easy sense of belonging – rarely found within bricks and mortar. It is a place to kick off the shoes and indulge in a fireside read, while keeping an eye on wild pheasant strolling around the fields.
The heart of the house is the family kitchen. A large refectory table takes centre stage beside an ancient Aga, and old meat hooks hanging from the ceiling serve as a reminder of how meat was cured in Georgian times.
Six elegant bedrooms lie upstairs and are accessed from the cantilevered staircase to the front of the property and the narrow staff stairwell off the kitchen. There is some cosmetic work needed, but then there always is with houses of such provenance. The hessian walls in the dining-room need replacing, and new owners may want to change the salmon paint on the ceiling.
To the rear of the main residence are postcard-worthy cut stone dwellings – labourers’ cottages with lattice windows and coach-houses draped in climbing roses, all set around a neat, cobbled courtyard.
Working farm
The estate is currently a working farm; pastures with livestock and tilled fields sweep around the house as far as the eye can see.
Tullyard House is a handsome property full of grace and charm on arable lands with uninterrupted views. Even though the property is over two centuries old, it has been home to just four families.Letting go of such an alluring place is not easy when it has been home for 40 years, but with an empty nest and retirement on the horizon, the current owners are selling up and have placed Tullyard on the market with REA TE Potterton and Ganly Walters with an asking price of €3.75 million.
