This charming converted and extended farmhouse in Knappagh, on the Leenane Road as you head in the direction of Connemara, is about five kilometres from the market town of Westport.
The property was purchased by Susan Minish in the 1960s, when she saw quite a bit of potential in what was then an old farm dwelling. In 1998, Minish, a published poet, engaged John Cox of award-winning architectural firm Cox Power to extend and fuse the old farmhouse with some outbuildings. The result is lovely and has been done in a most sensitive way. While stitching both units together – which now gives a generous 279sq m (3,000sq ft) of floor space – the design allowed for lots of interesting details.
On one side, an old outbuilding was converted and the living room was placed upstairs to overlook the gardens that Minish, a keen gardener, tended until her death last October. This room now has a large roof light set into a barrelled ceiling that bathes the entire space in light. The design also added a conservatory to the south-facing front, where Minish grew many trees and plants from cuttings she acquired on her travels.
The property now has three to four bedrooms, three bathrooms, a studio where Minish wrote and a shelved library. Of more interest are exposed stone walls in the conservatory, vaulted ceilings in the main part of the property and flagstone floors at garden level – it’s really full of character and far from a run-of-the-mill house.
The gardens on just under half an acre and, like the house, are full of curiosities and include a vegetable plot, a pond and a mature walled area.
Minish, who won the prestigious Crann prize for poetry in 2001, wrote collections including Bay of White Horses, Beyond the Reek and Tidal Dreams, all of which reflect locations and maritime setting around the Westport area.
The property will be of interest to those who would like to escape to the west and live far from the madding crowd – though Westport is just a five-minute drive away.
Ardracasan, which has a BER of D1, is now on the market through estate agent Tuohy O’Toole seeking €575,000.
