The farmhouse style has enduring appeal for good reason. It creates a warm and inviting heart to a home. Here are five idea-filled options for sale.
The farmhouse kitchen is the engine room of the agri-sector. It’s a place where innumerable loaves of brown bread have been baked, umpteen litres of tea drunk, and mountains of floury spuds served at dinner in the middle of the day.
There are many ways to work the look. With the Ploughing Championships kicking off in Screggan, Tullamore, Co Offaly tomorrow, celebrate the harvest with ideas from these five homes where you can smell the scones browning.
Aga saga in Co Meath
Address: Martry House, Navan, Co. Meath, A82 D5H2
Asking price: €995,000
Agent: Sherry FitzGerald Reilly
Set on about 0 acres of mature grounds and accessed via a long and winding, tree-lined avenue, this two-storey detached six-bedroom, three-bathroom Edwardian residence is impressive.
With underfloor heating throughout the ground floor, the kitchen is very much the hearth of the home.
It has anthracite grey shaker door cabinetry with a classic cream, four-door Aga adding further physical warmth to the space, which has high shelving and decorative tiling.
It’s a place you could expect the homeowner to remove warm scones from the second oven, a range cooker, and serve with home-made butter and jam.
The F BER-rated residence extends to 298 square metres.
Mind the dresser in Co Wicklow
Address: Rowan Lodge, Kilcashel, Avoca, Co. Wicklow, Y14 RR24
Asking price: €985,000
Joint agents: Sherry FitzGerald Country Homes and Sherry FitzGerald Arklow
Originally a cottage, this B3 BER-rated property has been completely reimagined in red cedar and glazing that frames views across the Vale of Avoca.
Now a four-bedroom, one-bathroom house of 200 square metres with underfloor heating across both floors, the kitchen channels the modern farmhouse aesthetic.
The Rhatigan & Hick design features D-ring drawer and cupboard pulls, marble worktops that incorporate a butcher’s block, and an Amazonian-tall dresser which draws the eye up to the vaulted ceiling above.
The bespoke joinery has glazed fronts that are downlit to show off a range of serveware and good pieces that do not gather dust when not in use and provide a decorative background.
The overall effect appears effortless.
Expect to enjoy endless cups of tea here.
Animal crackers in Co Wexford
Address: 5 Clonattin Road, Gorey, Co. Wexford, Y25 KW90
Asking price: €365,000
Agent: Halnon Humphreys Estate Agents
While the exterior of this three-bedroom, one-bathroom bungalow looks more like a hacienda than a farmhouse, inside the motifs are fresh from the farm.
There are horses in the living room, boar and zebra trophies in the hall, and bovine and porcine vibes in the eat-in kitchen.
Set in a broken-plan T-shape, the kitchen has presses set out in a galley fashion in freshly churned cream colour.
A full-height opening leads through to the dining area, which is painted in off-beat tones of green and blue, colours that are never meant to be seen but contrast in a very interesting way.
A Holstein Friesian cow gazes down from the wall while a British saddleback pig looks on from a painting on the wall.
Expect the pork and dairy served up in this C1 BER-rated property, which extends to 95 square metres, to be first class.
Keep the home fires burning in Baltinglass
Address: Barrack House, Rathdangan Village, Baltinglass, Co. Wicklow, W91 D6Y7
Asking price: €410,000
Agent: REA Murphy
Keeping a farmhouse fire burning continuously, often lasting for decades or even generations without ever being fully extinguished, is one of the oldest domestic traditions in rural Irish history.
The idea of a living hearth was the cornerstone of physical survival, social connection, and spiritual protection.
This detached three-bedroom, three-bathroom, G Ber-rated residence, of 110 square metres, has an Indian sandstone floor and wood-burning stove, over which hangs a pulley-operated, Victorian-style drying rack.
A scrubbed pine table is where the household gathers for dinners in the middle of the day.
Tablescaping country-style
Address: Rusheen, Castleplunket, Castlerea, Co. Roscommon, F45 XD53
Asking price: €150,000
Agent: Nigel Dineen & Martin Finn Auctioneer
Just on the edge of the village of Castleplunket, about seven kilometres south-west of Tulsk and 10 kilometres east of Castlerea, this three-bedroom, one-bathroom detached house contains tableware that is essential to the farmhouse kitchen.
It includes willow pattern plates, bowls, a teapot, and a creamer and sugar set, items that were once commonplace on dressers in country kitchens up and down the country. Contrasting with the willow is a Cornish ware-style pitcher, another emblem of old rural Ireland.
The pieces have everyday charm and recall countless cups of tea served in such a setting, which includes an oilcloth atop the table.
