Co Laois: €485,000A large and splendidly refurbished Georgian house in a quaint midlands town for the price of a modest Dublin semi-d? No joke. Orna Mulcahy reports

Gunne Residential is seeking offers over €485,000 for a splendid Georgian house on an acre of walled garden at Mountmellick in Co Laois.

The price for the semi-detached property underlines the value to be had in provincial towns compared with the capital.

In Dublin, buyers are paying €485,000 for modest semi-detached homes in the suburbs. Instead, with Sheane House, they could have 372 sq m (4,000 sq ft) of living space including two self-contained apartments, in a fine two-storey over basement house on the edge of a quaint midlands town.

Sheane House has been owned for the last 15 years by an English couple who have refurbished it with style. It was built in the 1830s by the Sheane brothers who ran several businesses in Mountmellick, including the first sugar beet factory in Ireland.

It's an elegant two-storey over basement house with a fine bright hallway, with light spilling down from a fine stained glass window on the first landing.

There are two fine reception rooms; one of which, the drawingroom, opens into a large conservatory overlooking the back garden.

The kitchen is big and country-style with open shelves displaying the owners huge collection of china, and a Stanley range.

There are three bedrooms upstairs, but plenty more accommodation in the house overall.

The basement is currently laid out at as a three-bedroom apartment, while attached and included with Sheane House is a former school house, which is now a large two-bedroom apartment, suitable for a number of uses.

Stripped and polished timber floors, original fireplaces, decorative cornice work and shuttered windows are just some of the period features of this characterful house, while the extensive walled garden to the rear will also have huge appeal.