Co Kilkenny/ €375,000: Shortly after buying this stone farmhouse in Knocktopher, Co Kilkenny nine years ago, American furniture-maker Harry Gorman and his designer wife Ann were chuffed to discover that the house had been known for generations as Gorman's Cottage. They bought it in dilapidated condition and have since turned it into a delightful country retreat.
FitzGerald Auctioneers of Kilkenny is quoting €375,000 for the three-bedroom house and adjoining two-bedroom guest cottage, both full of character and charm. Harry's hand-crafted joinery and Ann's interior design skills are much in evidence.
The 19th century farmhouse sits on 1.25 acres of Kilkenny countryside, down a quiet boreen with dry stone walls. Kilkenny is 13 miles and Waterford 18 miles from the front door.
The interior combines the best of modern living with a traditional look. Underfloor heating has been installed in both the main house and guest cottage. Contemporary light fittings and crisp white walls contrast with ceiling beams, natural slate and quarry-tiled floors and timber windows.
A Stanley range is tucked into an inglenook in the main kitchen. Units are maple and a staircase climbs to a double bedroom.
The principle bedroom is accessed through a downstairs room which is either bedroom three or a study. Slates from the original roof are used on the floor here. An original cast-iron fireplace keeps the sittingroom cosy.
There is also a downstairs bathroom and separate shower room.
The adjoining two-bedroom guest cottage has a Shaker-style kitchen and sittingroom with simple fireplace.
The gardens are beautifully tended, with three different terraces, gravelled areas, lawns and flower borders. A side gate enters the paddock from the road. Three cut-stone outbuildings and a garage have a variety of uses.
As Gorman's Cottage is on a slightly raised piece of land, views over the rolling countryside and back towards Thomastown and the Blackstairs Mountains are pleasantly rural.
Though secluded, the cottage is by no means cut off, with Knocktopher two miles away and the N9 and N10 within easy reach.
For more country property see page 16
