Extended Waterford cottage with space for horses and access to Greenway for €575,000

Living in Glenhouse, a charming converted and extended home outside the village of Kilmeaden in Co Waterford, is all about amenities surrounding the 251sq m (2,700sq ft) C1 rated property.

Lying on seven acres, it stands at the edge of the Curraghmore Estate and Portlaw Woods, where new owners can walk many of the trails and also trek for miles on horseback.

The fact that the house has two stables for horses plus a big hay barn means it could be very popular with equine enthusiasts. For cyclists it is five minutes from the Greenway, and the property has a large bike shed for storage.

There is also a pond, which is currently home to six drakes vying for the attention of a solitary duck, under the watchful eye of a heron. A small shallow stream flows close to one side of the property.

"The boys used to spend summers fishing away for tiny fish here, and as it is so shallow there was never any worry," says Georgina Power, who has lived here with her husband, Brian, for the past 20 years.

When the couple originally purchased the property, it was a 200-year-old cottage with lots of outhouses. They extended and constructed a new wing to the house into what it is today: a superb four-bedroom house with contemporary interiors, where large picture windows capture the best of the panoramic vistas.

One of the nicest features of the property is the patio off the kitchen, which looks over the forest and boats on the River Suir.

The couple are downsizing as their sons have moved on.

“Otherwise we’d stay forever and a day,” says Power. “It was incredible during lockdown as the boys and their wives moved in and we all coexisted peacefully. In a way we had so much on our doorstep that we were oblivious to the pandemic, but now it’s just the pair of us so it’s time to move on,” says Power.

The family kept horses for years at the property and besides the stables, there is also a large workshop where Brian, a carpenter, has plied his trade.

The property, which is five minutes’ drive to Mount Congreve gardens – internationally recognised for its rare species of plants and its plant nurseries – is now on the market through estate agent Liberty Blue seeking €575,000.