It was on his first approach to the property that the musician owner fell in love with Arnestown Barn, located just outside New Ross in Co Wexford. The towering cut-stone barn conversion has a facade of windows providing sweeping views over the countryside. It struck the owner as an ideal place in which to make music and to set down roots. He went on to convert the double garage into a state-of-the-art soundproof music studio, complete with a vocal booth.
Extending to a generous 562sq m (6,050sq ft), the property is laid out in a U shape with the four-bedroom main house on the left and the garage-turned-studio on the right, which has a self-contained two-bed guest apartment above it. Linking the two buildings is a would-be swimming pool area at the centre, which has the infrastructure in place for a pool, but one has yet to be installed. With a C1 Ber, Arnestown Barn is for sale through Sherry Fitzgerald Radford, seeking €995,000.
Following the driveway to park in the central courtyard formed by these buildings, the tall, glazed arched entrance to the main house is on the left. It leads into a foyer flooded with light from a matching glazed arch on the opposite wall and features an open double staircase at its centre – a modern take on a classical design feature.
[ Look inside the most expensive house sold in Dublin so far this yearOpens in new window ]
Left off the foyer is the open-plan living area and kitchen/diningroom. The living area has a lofty double-height ceiling and floor-to-ceiling windows looking out to the surrounding greenery and rolling fields. It is quite minimalist in style with high-shine black tiled floors and white walls. It opens out to a large, paved terrace ideal for outdoor drinks and meals with family and friends. Two steps from the living space lead up to the kitchen with high-gloss black units, and a spacious dining area with a wall of built-in storage.
Jack Reynor: ‘We were in two minds between eloping or going the whole hog but we got married in Wicklow with about 220 people’
Forêt restaurant review: A masterclass in French classic cooking in Dublin 4
I went to the cinema to see Small Things Like These. By the time I emerged I had concluded the film was crap
Charlene McKenna: ‘Within three weeks, I turned 40, had my first baby and lost my father’
The right wing of the ground floor features a shower room and two bedrooms, one of which is en suite. There is a private stairwell to the dual-aspect main bedroom suite which occupies the right wing of the first floor. An accompanying walk-in wardrobe and a shower room sit on either side of the hallway leading into the bedroom from the landing. There is also access to a private mezzanine-level bath area.
A bathroom and a small office also occupy the right side of the floor with a living space on the opposite side on a mezzanine level overlooking the ground-floor living space. The surrounding bifold doors can be opened to connect the spaces or closed to hive it off. It enjoys the best of the countryside views and has access to a viewing terrace balcony.
That is not all for the main house as it also has a basement floor that offers plenty of potential. The fourth bedroom is here, as well as a study, a cinema room, a home gym, a plant room and a living area. Previous owners had a playroom set up here, so the possibilities are endless.
An outdoor covered pathway along the width of the pool area leads to the former double garage which has been turned into a music studio. This space could of course be given whatever use a prospective owner prefers, such as a den, a home office, a writer’s lair or further accommodation.
The two-bedroom apartment above it is, like the rest of the property, in turnkey condition.
[ Your own slice of seafront at Donegal period home on 28 acres for €985,000Opens in new window ]
The lush gardens extend to about 0.5 hectares (1.4 acres) featuring mature trees and shrubs, and offer plenty of potential for budding gardeners.
This versatile and stylish countryside property benefits from being just a 10-minute drive from the vibrant town of New Ross, 30 minutes from Wexford town and about two hours from the capital.
