The entrance to Mount John House, Newtownmountkennedy, in Co Wicklow, is directly off the N11 motorway, and the approach from Dublin calls for a brave right-hand turn across oncoming traffic. But this major road is due to be realigned, leaving the Georgian house in an appropriate backwater. And even with the present arrangement, a long, tree-lined avenue through acres of fields brings you well away from the hectic thoroughfare and into an entirely different world.
The home of the late Augustus Kennedy Kisch, and his wife, Joan, who died recently, the seven-bedroom house is a rambling, comfortable and old-fashioned home, in need of some updating. Mr Kisch was a director of Metropolitan Estate and Property Company Ireland, which built the State's first shopping centre at Stillorgan un Laoghaire shopping centres in the late 1960s and also the Dun Laoghaire shopping centre in the 1970s.
The early 18th century house, on 61 acres of parkland and pasture, goes to auction on October 18th. John Hamilton of Jackson-Stops is quoting a guideline price of between £2.5 million and £3 million. A two-bedroom gate lodge and several outbuildings are included in the sale.
The front of the house is clad in slates which have been painted white, giving it a somewhat unusual appearance. A spacious, gravelled drive runs by a sweeping green lawn. Beyond the yellow hall door, there are two beautiful reception rooms. The Kisch family added bow-shaped alcoves with three windows to the gable ends in both rooms, bringing the total number of windows in each to five.
On the interior, the additions are in a similar style to the rest of the architecture, and look original. Both rooms have marble mantels, and the one in the drawingroom is particularly fine, with carved griffins, and acanthus leaves. In the other room, French windows lead into an enclosed terrace with an elegant curved wall.
Also on this level are a diningroom, a long butler's pantry, a staff sittingroom, a large lavatory-cum-cloakroom, a conservatory and a kitchen with a solid-fuel Aga. Most of these latter rooms are in need of refurbishment.
A rather modest staircase leads to the upper floors. There are two handsome bedrooms at the front of the house, both with their own bathrooms, although only one of these is en suite. There are two further bedrooms and bathrooms on this floor, and a narrow stairs going down to the rear of the house. On the top floor there are three more bedrooms and a bathroom.
Behind the house there is a very large quadrangular yard bordered by a stable block, a coach-house and a centuries-old cottage, now used for storage.
