Romantic Tipperary Farmhouse and converted barn for €449,500 

The property is tailor-made for someone thinking of quitting the city in favour of rural tranquility, writes Trish Dromey

Whitebarns Ballinaclough

Ballynaclough, Co Tipperary
€449,500
Size	155 sq m & 144 sq m  (1,670 sq ft & 1,550 sq ft)
Bedrooms	3 & 3
Bathrooms	2 & 3
BER	F

Some people put a lot of work into creating their perfect home, others like the owner of Whitebarns in North Tipperary are lucky enough to find exactly the type of rustic stone farmhouse that they have dreamed of owning.

“ When I saw it I knew instantly that I wanted it and that it would be perfect for an art and healing centre. It had beautiful old stone work and gardens full of flowers and the setting was tranquil and scenic overlooking Keeper Hill,’’ says the owner who has run art classes and offered Reiki and Reflexology treatments at Whitebarns since buying it in 2006.

Whitebarns Ballinaclough

Nine years earlier, the 19th Century property and its barn had been transformed by an English couple who upgraded it, keeping and enhancing original features and adding the type of decorative touches a romantic farmhouse needs, while also turning the barn into a three bed cottage for holiday rentals.

For the current owner it was the home she had dreamed of buying with a cottage which was exactly what she needed to set up a treatment centre . The icing on the cake was that it had a large high ceilinged room which was perfect for a painting studio. 

“ The gardens and the surrounding countryside provide inspiration,’’ she says, explaining that she and students attending her classes and painting weekends over the years have never lacked for scenery to paint.

Located at Ballynaclough 8.5 kms from Nenagh, Whitebarns is on a site of almost an acre and, for its €449,500 guide price, includes two substantial three-bed properties - a 1,670 sq ft farmhouse and a 1,550 sq ft cottage.

Because she loves Whitebarns exactly the way it is, the owner says she hasn’t changed the décor significantly over the years although she has upgraded and insulated the farmhouse roof and also put in new doors and PVC sash windows in both properties.

In the farmhouse the décor is rustic and old world with exposed beams , rough plastered walls and some timber paneled ceilings. The dining room has a huge inglenook fireplace with log piles and a stove while the kitchen has a Belfast sink, an old style dresser and pots and pans hanging above a large Aga.

There’s also a carpeted sitting room with an ornate fireplace as well a bathroom, a bedroom, a small utility area and a sunroom overlooking the gardens. Upstairs the property has a blue bathroom with a freestanding roll top bath and two bedrooms with pretty flowers stenciled on the wall plastering.

The converted barn is even more rustic – you can make out the shape of the stones under the plasterwork Accommodation includes a kitchen with an Aga, a large sitting room used for reflexology, a bedroom used for Reiki and a bathroom. “ The sitting room was used for Dancing the Rainbow,’’ reveals the owner explaining that this is a healing treatment involving dance.

The upstairs has a bathroom and two bedrooms with vaulted ceilings and exposed roof beams – one is an art studio with an en suite.

Outside there are feature filled cottage gardens with a rockery, a gazebo, a clematis covered arch , a patio , some small ponds and a great many flowers and shrubs. 

“The English couple had put in the features and planted the garden but I have added more flowers. Right now it is full of white daisies and dark red poppies as well as ones that are pink , orange red and lilac,’’ she says, adding that the roses, hydrangea, lavender and geraniums are also in bloom.

William Talbot of Sherry FitzGerald Talbot says Whitbarns is tailor made for a buyer who wants to leave the city and find space and tranquility in the country. “It offers old world charm with all the comforts of modern living.’’ He says the self-contained cottage could be used as a home office , an art studio or a rental property 

VERDICT: Likely to captivate any buyer dreaming of owning a rustic farmhouse with flower filled gardens.