Equine paradise close to Brittas for €4m

Is Myrtle Lodge a top-notch equestrian centre with a very nice house attached or is it a pretty Victorian lodge that happens to have plenty of room for horses? Given the set-up – 175 fenced acres, a full-size indoor arena, Olympic-size outdoor arena, two cobbled courtyards with 11 stables, and an American barn with 14 more stables, plus staff offices, workshops and a livestock yard with two large barns – the accommodation for humans may seem a bit of an afterthought.

While it is true that you must love horses for Myrtle Lodge to make sense, you won’t have to slum it either while living alongside your four-legged friends. The lodge itself is a Victorian detached three-bedroomed affair (all en suite), with plenty of original features, elegant sash windows, hardwood floors, open fires, an Aga and lots of sensitively added modern creature comforts.

There is also a two bedroomed mews and a more recent addition – a five-bedroomed manager’s house, so you can board almost as many humans as horses.

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The sandy sweep of Brittas Bay Beach is just over a kilometre away and Wicklow town is 12km. The German owners bred horses here, having bought the house in the late 1990s and completely refurbishing it. The manager’s house was built in 2001.

If you wanted even more living space, there is planning permission on the land for a further build, on an elevated site with views of the bay. This permission runs to 2017, so there’s time to think about it. Approximately 27 acres are currently forestry lands, from which an afforestation scheme grant produces just over €2,000 a year.

Reached via a tree-lined avenue, the house itself is surrounded by mature gardens, with rose beds, a sheltered patio and a tennis court. So how much will all this horsey glory set you back?

This time last year, the answer would have been €6 million with Wicklow firm McDonnell Properties. Despite a price drop to €5 million in October, Myrtle Lodge is now on the market with Savills for €4 million. A bargain? The land is good, the facilities are fantastic and the location is excellent. Your horses would be very happy here.