Innovative features add to appeal of unusual thatched home

Tipperary home has toupee-like top, and furrowed dormer brows, writes Tommy Barker

It’s 10 years since Banti, an unusual Tipperary thatched home with complete mop-top reed toupee and furrowed eyebrow windows, had a major renovation — but that’s only a drop in the ocean of its long and colourful life.

Selling agent for the large stone and thatched country home, with around 1,200 sq ft, is John DeCourcy in Limerick, and he reckons it’s as much as 300 years old. It has had its ridge thatch re-done recently, had a comb-over, and there’s reassurance knowing it has a steel fire barrier in the roof.

When tackled back in 2002, it was done by a couple who specialised in salvage and period renovations, and it has features like timber sash windows, a Belfast sink, and old cast iron roll top bath, found in a field and re-enamelled. But, it’s the feature ceiling shapes and heights that will raise eyebrows once upstairs, as they’re steep and lofty with exposed rafters, supporting the bulk of thatch on the other side of the ceilings — eye-catching, and entirely characterful.

Location is at Shalee, Capparoe, and Banti is on an acre, mostly in lawns. Internally, accommodation includes a 25’ by 12’ living room with traditional open fireplace, kitchen, back lobby and two bedrooms with two more plus bathroom overhead.

VERDICT: Could be hobbit-forming.