To the manor reborn

A Tudor-style Tipperary mansion boasts many features inside. Trish Dromey takes a look at what’s on offer in The Old Grove

The Old Grove in South Tipperary is an amazing Tudor-style mansion with ample space for six wives or even six husbands.

The 6,000 sq ft, six bed house is also draws gasps because of the sheer scale of its Tudorness. Some properties have painted lines on the exterior to create a mock Tudor effect, but this one is redbrick with gable fronting and a wealth of Tudor-style features, including decorative half-timbering, decorated tall chimneys as well as oak ceiling beams and panels.

The other amazing thing about The Old Grove is that it was built almost single-handedly over a five- or six-year period by its UK owner who also designed it.

“Tudor houses are both his hobby and his work. He previously built and renovated some Tudor-style properties in the UK. Building this one from scratch was a labour of love,” explains Dermot Power of Sherry FitzGerald Walsh.

The house, which was started in 2000, has been fitted out by the owners with reclaimed materials sourced in Ireland and brought in from France and the UK. This includes a 150-year-old oak staircase as well as 200-year-old terracotta floor tiles used in the sunroom and the kitchen.

Truckloads of reclaimed red brick from the UK and Ireland were used in the construction of the house and the owners also used salvaged oak beams and panels and antique door handles and fireplaces for the interior. There’s very little visible that’s obviously modern — although the property does have en suites and bathrooms which the Tudors didn’t.

Rather than allowing a TV to take from the period ambience, the living room has a cinema screen which rolls back when not in use.

There’s not a great deal in the house which wasn’t built or fitted by the owner. He did all the brickwork himself, and the carpentry, although he did bring in plumbers and electricians and contracted a carpenter to make the oak-fitted units for the kitchen. The owner also landscaped the gardens, building a 30’ long pond at the rear as well as putting in a fountain.

The main hall simulates the grandness of a Tudor hall and has a galleried staircase, a brass chandelier and a stone fireplace. Rooms with a strong Tudor influence include a formal dining room and a library, both with oak panelled walls. All ground floor rooms have exposed oak beams on the ceiling, including a drawing room and a lounge with inglenook fireplaces. The kitchen combines an oak-beamed ceiling with country-style painted oak units fitted with granite worktops and integrated appliances. The large sun room at the rear opens on to a patio and looks out on lawns and a carp filled pond.

Upstairs there are six en suite bedrooms, including an extra large master bedroom which has a four poster bed and a very large en suite. Period features include a free-standing bath with claw legs, but this room also has underfloor heating, a large shower and heated towel rails — comforts that the Elizabethans couldn’t even have imagined.

Guest accommodation is provided in a separate annex which has a kitchen and a living room, and next to this there’s also a large detached workshop.

Behind the property, next to the pond, is a decked and covered garden room with a BBQ. As befitting a Tudor-style mansion, the property is on a site of six and a half acres and it is approached via a shared private sycamore lined avenue. Around one acre of the site has been landscaped while the rest is in paddock .

Situated one mile from New Inn Village, The Old Grove is within 12 kilometres of both Clonmel and Cashel.

The average buyer might be daunted at the size of the property, but it has wonderful potential as a guesthouse. The uniqueness of the house, the location within reach of fishing in the Suir and walks in the Comeraghs, all add to its appeal for this type of venture. The location in the heart of horse breeding country and the large site might also make it attractive for equestrian purposes.

VERDICT: Amazing and unique