Former railway station is perfect for a buyer looking for something unusual
Almost 40 years after the last train pulled out of Tallow Road Railway Station near Lismore in March 1967, a family moved in and made it their home.
The porter’s office became a utility room, the covered waiting area on the platform, a sunroom while the ticket office and the Ladies’ waiting room have been turned into a long living room.
The stationmaster’s house is once again in residential use and the old railway line has become a walkway for strolling in the gardens.
Built in 1872 by the Fermoy & Lismore Railway as a stop on the Mallow-Waterford route, the Victorian sandstone building is now a five-bed modern family home.
Nearby on the nine acres site is a freight shed which has been turned into a one-bed guest property.
When the owner bought the building in 1998, the roof had fallen in and a tree was growing on the inside.
As a child she had played in the grounds while spending summers with her grandmother who lived nearby.
“My grandmother remembered it being a busy place when it was a working railway. She wanted to buy it when it went for sale in 1972, but a local farmer bought it,” she recalls.
By the time it came on the market again, it was in total disrepair but the owner bought it anyway: “People told me I was off my head — but I brought in a local builder and we started a monumental repair job.”
It took two years and by the end of it she has a home with 2,800 sq ft of living space.
Because it was a shell when she bought, little remains of the original features except the stonework: “All that was left inside was a door with a sign saying Ladies Waiting room which we kept.”
In creating her new home she used exposed sandstone as a feature in the hall and landing and built a fireplace from some of the original blocks. Up on the roof she was also able to keep two of the old Victorian chimneys.
A major part of the project involved the construction of a new two-storey extension, faced in sandstone which she matched as best as she could to the original building.
This provided space on the ground floor for a large oak-floored sitting room, and three bedrooms and a bathroom on the upstairs level.
The gable-fronted section in the middle, which used to be the stationmaster’s house, now has a modern kitchen at ground level, and two upstairs bedrooms including one en suite.
Alongside the kitchen in a space where passengers once waited for trains is a tiled sunroom.
The ladies waiting room is a tiled sitting room and there’s also a utility room and bathroom.
Double glazing and oil central heating have brought modern comfort to the Victorian building.
The old freight shed in the garden is now a 676 sq ft property with a kitchen, a dining area and a galleried bedroom with an en- suite and a balcony.
The old station-house is located at Glencairn, three miles from Lismore, Tallow and the village of Ballyduff.
Seeking offers of €545,000, David Reynolds of Sherry FitzGerald Reynolds says this is a tastefully-restored residence in a magnificent woodland setting.
“It’s the type of unique property which attracts foreign buyers — we have just booked a viewing with US buyer who is coming to Ireland especially to see it.”
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