Historic Coaching Inn for £320,000-plus in Dunsany

An unusual family home, The Coaching Inn, located just off the Navan-Dublin road in Co Meath, is expected to make in excess of £320,000 when it is auctioned on September 21st by Navan agent Raymond Potterton.

The house, part of it dating from the early 18th century, is located in Dunsany, one of the very few Meath villages that has remained virtually unchanged over the years. New houses have been confined to one of the four roads that meet in the village. The other three roads run through Dunsany estate which, up to this day, has rarely, if ever, sold off sites for new houses. The policy may have irritated some families in the past but it has helped to preserve the 1,800-acre demesne which was recently taken over by the new Lord Dunsany following the death of his father.

The Coaching Inn does not come with a title but stands on three acres of mature gardens along what is called the Old Road, the original stage coach route from Dublin to the Hill of Tara and Navan. The present owners bought the house over five years ago and substantially remodelled and enlarged it, using the same cut-stone materials in the extension. This was no gimcrack, quick-buck conversion but one that was thoughtfully restrained and expertly carried out.

The house stands at the end of a gravelled drive among mature beech and oak trees which ensure complete privacy. The formal gardens wrap around the house - and there is a hidden garden just outside the original front door. There is a sense of complete privacy about this little outdoor area which has a great variety of perennials.

A new entrance hall provides a more elegant introduction to the house, which has two reception rooms, one leading off the other and both with brick open-hearth fires.

The kitchen/diningroom is probably the best room in the house. It has a wooden floor, oak units and three windows looking out over the gardens. One of the old cut-stone buildings on the site has been modernised and linked in to the house and is currently used as a studio flat.

The main house has three bedrooms, including a large main bedroom with an en suite bathroom.

Another selling point for The Coaching Inn, according to Raymond Potterton, is its location within easy walking distance of the heavily wooded Killeen estate, which is to be developed as a country club and conference centre by the Dublin-based property company Castlethorn.