Synge House fit for a playboy

THE Playboy has moved with the times: a Mayo home called John Millington Synge House, built directly opposite the shebeen site where the Playboy of the Western World was set, has creature comforts such as a sauna and a Jacuzzi hot tub, along with a staircase which wouldn’t look too out of place in a production of Gone with the Wind.

Playwright JM Synge found his inspiration in the landscape and lore of the Aran Islands, and the cadences of the language. In the village of Geesala, home to the shebeen setting for the original Playboy, much has remained unchanged.

Synge died 100 years ago this year, and among the sea-changes since is the level of nationwide prosperity. In an almost ironic way John Millington Synge House summarises aspects of it: Pegeen Mike, Christy Mahon and the Widow Quinn wouldn’t recognise the place.

You’ll have to synge to the tune of €750,000 to get yourself inside the door of this 4,500 sq ft six-bedroomed home, on an acre by the village, which translates as Gaoth Saile, the Salty Sea Inlet. It has a hotel, previously called Ostan Synge, two pubs, a post office and two shops, and scenery ranging from bog to beaches, with a championship 18-hole golf course at Belmullet.

ERA Connor Estates are the selling agents of what they describe as a modern country house, with features like lots of double aspect rooms, cornicing and centrepieces, a solid mahogany staircase, and gallery style landing overlooking the foyer and wrapping around the central staircase.

It has four reception rooms, kitchen and dining area, and two of its five/six bedrooms have en suite bathrooms. There’s a large balcony overlooking the gardens.

The hot tub is huge, and the sauna can hold five persons, or a small cast of playboys.