Cover story: A ‘great house’ that lives up to the name

Location: Crookstown, Co Cork

THE snaking driveway says it all — the clipped beech, the cleared, but untrammelled woodland, and carefully guided, gushing brook speak of care and a not-too-small amount of investment.

In a location just a whizz from the city, on the Cork/ Macroom road, this house is set in an area of good land and old demesnes, and Warrensgrove House has both.

A private, meticulously restored property, it sits on a substantial, 80-acre estate, and in a courtyard of buildings that includes the ruin from which the house gets its name.

Warrensgrove, which was torched in the 1920s, along with interrelated family houses in the area, is now a greening monument to time’s past, and its skeletal remains are glimpsed through trees on the kilometre-long approach to the house.

The site is perfect — grand country houses were set to be visible to the passing visitor. Status was all-important, and the house was the ultimate signifier of wealth — so it had to be seen.

Warrensgrove House was no huge mansion, but a second son’s residence, with a substantial footprint and quite a deal of rich farmland. The land is still that today, but the former courtyard of buildings has been transformed into an impressive country-house residence. The jury is out as to whether this prize of a property will be carried off by the country-house buyer or the producers of ‘white gold’ — the dairy farmers who surround this demesne.

In that sense, the owners have hedged their bets with two agents, Ganly Walters and Christy Buckley. The former has country-house and international buyers, and the latter is local all the way. However, Christy Buckley did pull off the sale of the year in 2013 when the Ballinhassig agent landed a big fish for a faded, golf-course scheme on 370 acres at Kinsale, in Tupperware chief, Rick Goings.

Goings paid €3.4m for the land, one of the first big overseas buys of 2013 and an early sign that the market had turned. Now, with a pattern of buying from abroad up and running, the likelihood of this 80-acre, country estate going to a non-national is high, especially as it’s a dedicated, equestrian set-up.

The owners, who are well-known in horsey circles, have had the house quietly on the market for the past while, but, with renewed activity in country houses, have decided to go public. They’ve reduced the price, too, to €1.5m, which should smooth the path to a swift sale. Right now, the property is being sold in the entire, and at average rates for land in this area at €10,000 per acre and factoring in the quality of the residence, the price represents good value, says Christy Buckley.

Warrensgrove is a fully renovated, highly insulated and remarkably well-restored property of 4,500 sq ft and more in turn-key condition. Normally, with country-house sales like this, there’s a deal of work to complete; or there’s little land attached to the house; or, worst of all, its nearly falling down.

Not so at Warrensgrove — created out of the original stone courtyard, the house is now an embrace of linear rooms centred around a huge, south-facing quadrangle in a private location. The land flows below it to the south and west and there’s a central farm roadway with access to all paddocks. The stream, which gushes its way through the property, giving water to all fields (it also looks perfect for micro-generation), is newly bridged throughout and the sheltering woodland runs to 15 acres, with a stunning bluebell wood of two acres on the north-eastern boundary.

There’s a good mix of grass and woodland here — it’s not the cleared monoculture of the dairy industry — and the farm is in REPS 4 with an annual Single Farm Payment, too. There is the option of leasing silage to local farmers, for those who don’t want the bother of grassland-management, but interested buyers, so far, have come from the equestrian side.

They will find a lot to like at Warrensgrove: it is ready-to-go at a high level, (the owners are eventers), and includes a large sand arena built into the old, walled garden, whose frame is fully restored.

The modern sheds include four stables in one barn and there’s a lot of space on offer for more. The buildings are easily accessible from the house, and all immaculately tended, and the old coach houses in the main courtyard could also be pressed into use. There are a number of older buildings which, while in good condition, could have new, designated functions.

The main house has a very impressive door frame, (close to passive standards of insulation, say the owners), with fine Georgian beading and a pressure-painted finish over solid mahogany. Likewise, the replacement sash windows, used throughout the house, slide like a dream.

The owners finished a self-contained apartment when they first moved in, and lived there while finishing the renovation, which includes complete insulation of all walls and ceilings, (effectively, a timber-frame building within the stone structure), damp proofing and installation of underfloor heating run from a multi-fuel burner, which mostly uses felled timber from the estate.

The main entrance hallway, lit by a full-length, curved window at the rear, is dominated by a bi-furcated staircase in mahogany made at Ballingeary Joinery. Rooms fan out to left and right of this central apex, with informal rooms to the west and formal rooms running east.

The kitchen is on the left and it’s a smart, contemporary space, but in a style that respects the age of the house. Hand-built, walnut units flank the northern wall, and in the centre is a Falcon stove in a purpose-built fire breast. The best thing about the room, (especially on a cold day), is the sleek wood-burning stove, which has armchairs left and right, in true country style. At the room’s centre is a circular walnut table with upholstered seats, an understated classic from Meadows and Byrne, which the owner has for some time.

The house has a great mix of new and old furniture, and the effect is luxe, but relaxed, and, despite the huge amount of space, all of the rooms are used on a regular basis.

Perhaps it’s the lack of corridors and the fact that most rooms open into the other that give that impression, but there are no locked-away, ‘good’ rooms, and no show-off arrangements. It’s all subtle good taste.

Curtains range from lush silk to classic chintz to linen to voile, all beautifully hung around double doors and windows, in a house that can wear rich fabric.

The kitchen leads through to a family room, again with wood-burning stove, and then through another hallway to a double-width reception room.

This large room has doors and windows facing west over the paddocks, and east into the courtyard, and is a fine party room. It’s now a combination office/ games’ room with table tennis table at its centre.

Then, on the more formal side of the house, grander furniture and impressive proportions give a country-house feel. The main drawing room and dining room interconnect and the dining room has a door out to the courtyard. And while the original fire pieces in the formal rooms have gone, they’ve been replaced by elegant, white Carrara marble mantels in Adam’s style. The well-used grates have given the new pieces a nice, aged effect.

The rooms are bright and fitted with quality wool carpet and rugs, and the living room has a mix of antique and occasional furniture in rich, soft, gold velvet with deep marine blue silk curtains. Lovely.

In the dining room, an old table is flanked by contemporary and comfortable chairs and the mix works well. The fireside meanwhile, is flanked by two old leather armchairs whose battered covering convey a sense of age and character — and comfort. Ceilings in all the rooms are high, yet, because of the insulation and underfloor heating, the house is toasty. And the same applies to the bedroom level, which spans both wings.

In the eastern corner, there’s a self-contained unit with dual access and this is a superb manager’s or au pair’s flat and is bigger than an average apartment, with kitchen, dining and living room in an L- shaped space.

In total, there are five bedrooms and five bathrooms on the upper floor, but that goes no way to describing the character and size of each room — changes of mood and style are used to good effect and as might be expected, the master-bedroom suite is extra large. The run of rooms comprise almost a wing in themselves. Bathrooms are generously fitted and plumbing is high-end, with hot water back up from a solar roof array.

The functioning end of the house includes a tack room with arched doorway to the yard, and a decorative theme that includes a blaze of rosettes. Next door is a purpose-built wine cellar, where the thick stone walls of the house are perfect for ageing bottles. But, then, this house is rather perfect in every other way, too.

VERDICT: A plum find that will suit everyone and everything — from people to animals to trees to land — and bluebells. A rare chance to buy in a great location.