A Fermoy farmhouse with three lodges comes on sale for €795,000

Strawhall comes with a main house and three income-generating rental lodges

Thu, 27 May, 2021 - 12:59

Catherine Shanahan

Fermoy, Co Cork
€795,000
Size	465 sq m (5005 sq ft)
Bedrooms	6
Bathrooms	8
BER	C1

Highwood House was on the road to ruin until an able craftsman intervened and coaxed it back to life. It wasn’t so much the hand of fate, as his hands that saved it.

When he and his wife bought the former farm property near Fermoy, 21 years ago, it was largely derelict. He worked tirelessly to restore it to good health. “It hadn’t been lived in since 1984, so an awful lot of work went into it,” he says. That included restoration, insulation, re-roofing, re-plastering, re-pointing of brickwork (a stonemason came for a week and stayed nine months), with much effort put into preserving the original brick façade. Then there was the restoration of three additional buildings, used as living quarters and a store, on an old working farm.

The restoration project, which began in 2000, ran for two years and had an excellent outcome, with a charming traditional-style farmhouse emerging from the shell of the old main house. In addition, three lodges emerged from the other farmyard buildings: The Stone Lodge, The Loft, and The Sunnyside, all successful rental properties, that have helped repay the craftsman’s sterling efforts.

The lodges measure between 750 sq ft and 1,150 sq ft, with 3 bedrooms in the two larger lodges and two in the smallest.

Over the years, the craftsman added a conservatory on the upper floor of the main house; a beautiful water feature in the courtyard using two lorries of Liscannor Stone and a carport six years ago. “It’s been a work in progress,” the craftsman’s wife says and they’ve done a terrific job, with the main house and the lodges showcasing their talents, from the bespoke kitchens he built and fitted, to his handmade wardrobes and dressers, to the installation of timber ceiling beams salvaged from the former Murphy’s Brewery in Blackpool.

He also salvaged the stanchion or central support pillar in the wrap-around conservatory from Murphy’s Brewery. It bears a stamp dating to 1889 from the Vulcan Iron Foundry, part of Cork’s 19th-century industrial heritage.

Also in the mix is a stunning, handcrafted staircase and a glorious double-height dining room, brick arches and stone fireplaces, all done with great attention to detail and to the highest of building standards, and with woodwork repainted again in the last 12 months.

Accommodation is extensive, including six bedrooms in the main 465 sq m house and eight bathrooms (a number of ensuites); a dining room/sunroom with French doors to rear decking, a lounge, a kitchen with bespoke solid wood units, and a separate living area at one end of the house (au-pair/grandparents annex?). There’s also a first-floor living room and that great big conservatory that catches the sun all day long.

The woman of the house says the bespoke furniture can be included in the sale “subject to negotiation”.

As selling agent, Adrianna Hegarty of Hegarty Properties says, Highwood House has been sympathetically restored to create a unique family home “with many modern design elements that blend seamlessly with original materials”. The owner even restored an old village water pump and put an old Famine pot and milk churns on display in the large gardens on the site, which extends to circa 1.2 acres. There’s a garage adjoining the main house and a separate workshop and a large courtyard area.

With its lodges and its enviably tranquil location — albeit just a three-minute drive from Fermoy town centre — Ms Hegarty, who is guiding at €795,000, says it has great potential as a retreat — cookery/yoga/artists? Equally, it has been, and can continue to be, a terrific family home with the lodges offering additional rental income. “Alternatively, the entire offering would make for a sound investment as a cluster of rental properties, with the option of some short-term lettings for any number of purposes such as fishing lodges for the local Blackwater River or AirBnB,” Ms Hegary says.