Rare period farmhouse

IT isn’t often that a modern dairy farm with a very old period residence comes on the market. But buyers have history as well as agricultural property on offer, with the launch of Egmont House last week.

Located at Churchtown, Mallow, Co Cork, the house and 94-acre farm have been in the Sherlock family for three generations, but now Billy Sherlock is retiring and the property is being sold through John Paul Sheehan of Lisney.

It’s a fine farm to kick off the new sales year, and Churchtown is acknowledged as having some of the best quality grazing land in the county — one of the reasons for the large cluster of period houses around the village.

Approached by a long driveway the house is at the centre of the farm and forms a square courtyard to the rear, with old stone slated buildings on three sides.

Behind these again are a range of modern sheds with capacity for 80 cattle.

The land is all in one block of level, dry grazing, most of which is laid out in large divisions.

There’s a central roadway, and road frontage on two sides of the farm. A rough area bounded by a pond is the only waste land.

The property had been run as a dairy enterprise until recently. Billy Sherlock intends to manage the grass and use the land for silage until such time as it is sold.

John Paul Sheehan gives a guide price of €1.25 million for the farm, a reasonable sum considering the quality of the land and the impressive nature of the farmhouse and outbuildings.

The property for sale, also known as Egmont Hall, is connected to the Perceval family who were endowed with the title of Earls of Egmont.

The house probably dates from the early 1800s. It’s in great nick today, but according to Sherlock, had cows sheltering on the ground floor when his grandfather first bought it.

All three Sherlocks have improved the property substantially since then, paying particular respect to the integrity of the main house.

From the outside, Egmont House looks plain and perhaps a little dour, but inside, it has the simplicity and grace of a higher-end farmhouse of the Georgian period.

There’s an impressive enclosed staircase, and nicely proportioned reception rooms, which make the house manageable, but also welcoming.

With five bays and accommodation over two floors, the house’s distinctive feature is the Gibbs doorway lit by a mouth-organ fanlight.

Egmont is 6km from Buttevant, 18km from Mallow and 10km from Charleville, and would suit any farming enterprise, including an equestrian facility, says John Paul Sheehan.