Lovingly restored Georgian house for sale for €1.25 million on six acres – or €1.4 million on 20 acres, writes EMMA CULLINAN

WHEN FIONA Sheehan and her husband Turlough bought Clonmethan Glebe nine years ago, it was a major restoration project. Nearly 200 years old and listed, this substantial country house now nearly looks as if it might be new.

Clonmethan Glebe is just outside the village of Oldtown, north Co Dublin, 22km from Dublin city centre, and is now for sale through Knight Frank for €1.25 million on six acres, or €1.4 million on 20 acres.

A tree-lined drive leads to the house: a double porch opens into a large square hall which has its original black floorboards and a decorative plaster ceiling.

The Georgian house has four bedrooms on the upper floor which share a family bathroom.

The main bedroom has two huge sash windows: indeed, the whole house has the most impressive array of such windows, including those in the two drawing rooms on the ground floor and a vast window lighting the original curved wooden staircase. Most of the floors were taken out: sumptuous black timber was salvaged where it could be and put back in (in the hall and drawing room) while other floors were replaced. All had underfloor heating put in powered by geothermal energy.

Sash windows were retained or copied exactly and doors and shutters stripped, repaired and put back. The ground floor was dug out and damp-proofed; soil around the house was cleared allowing plenty of light to reach the basement. When they took the render off the basement walls, Fiona fell in love with the bare stone and decided that this was where she would like the kitchen.

The semi-freestanding kitchen units were made or salvaged by a furniture maker from Balbriggan.

Also at basement level is a bathroom with roll-top freestanding bath, utility room, a TV room and a playroom that leads into a walled garden, so children can play safely in and out.

There is a coach-house with living accommodation at one end of the garden and elsewhere, a walled vegetable garden. Work has precipitated the couple’s move to the US, hence leaving this amazing project and family home.

Clonmethan Glebe, just outside the village of Oldtown, north Co Dublin Substantial country home on 20 acres Agent: Knight Frank