A THREE-YEAR-OLD house in Co Galway has become the subject of a “bale-in” instead of a “bail-out” after its owners decided to use it to store feed for sheep.
Gortbrack Bridge House, Slieveroe, Headford, Co Galway, a detached property on the market since 2008, has been temporarily filled with hay while its owners wait for the market to improve.
The 3,500sq ft house next to the river Blackwater and close to Lough Corrib is on sale with Spencer Auctioneers at a guide price of €600,000. According to the auctioneer’s website, the property, on a quiet lane four miles west of Headford, is almost complete and is awaiting a purchaser’s choice of fixtures and fittings.
With four bedrooms, six rooms on the ground floor and on a 3.6-acre plot, the property is reminiscent of builds that sold well at the height of the boom.
Despite its classic design and beautiful views of the river and surrounding farmland, its owners, who specialise in building one-off housing for individuals, have found it difficult to move.
One of the owners, who did not wish to be named, said he was stuck for somewhere to store sheep feed for his father’s farm and decided to use the unoccupied house.
His small building business was not in financial difficulty, he said, as they only constructed one-off properties, mainly for other people and only one at a time.
They had decided to build this house and sell it themselves, he said, but so far had not been successful in finding a buyer.
He said he thought the property would be particularly suitable for someone with an interest in fishing as it was possible to navigate from the Blackwater, outside its door, to Lough Corrib.
For the moment, it was a good place to keep hay dry. “There isn’t going to be any houses sold ’til after the winter anyway,” he said.
