Pinterest boards at the ready for this Gothic thriller is a scene-stealing, high Victorian Gothic Kilkenny country house that could be the ultimate reno job.
This is a scene-stealing, high Victorian Gothic country house where the decorating potential is immense.
It could be a dream renovation for someone with the vision to upgrade and reimagine it.
Address Knocktopher Abbey, Knocktopher, Co. Kilkenny, R95 TD82
AMV: €1,850,000
Agent: DNG Ella Dunphy
Eight and a half kilometres south of the heritage town of Thomastown, Co Kilkenny, and about seven kilometres north of the Mount Juliet Estate, which includes a Michelin star restaurant, Lady Helen, is this photogenic country house, Knocktopher Abbey.
Discreetly set at the end of a long private driveway, winding gravel drive flanked on either side by woodland, Knocktopher Abbey has 12 acres of landscaped gardens which incorporate a yew walk.
There are many more pleasure walks along with fine specimens of oak, maple and sycamore across the grounds.
The grounds also feature an embedded Celtic cross garden design and serpentine flowerbeds.
All of these would make beautiful backdrops to a boutique wedding business.
With model good looks will garner attention.
The three-bay, two-storey with dormer attic property was rebuilt in 1866 following a fire, and it is constructed of deep grey limestone, offset by cut granite, producing a very pleasing two-tone palette.
The façade features pointed arches, lancet windows and a pyramidal-roofed porch tower.
Inside the baronial gothic style remains, starting with the entrance foyer’s main staircase.
Solomonic balusters support carved timber bannisters and terminate in Gothic-style timber newels.
Currently, there is a bar and a games room to the left with ladies' and gents’ toilets off it.
This room runs the depth of the main house.
In the 1990s, Frank Curran, then head chef and manager of Petronella Restaurant in Kilkenny city, leased and managed a bistro and a separate fine dining restaurant.
In the east wing, there are two rooms to the right, separated by an inner hallway that opens to the house’s second staircase and inner hall.
The Great Hall is on the floor above.
An excellent example of interior architecture from the era has an impressive barrel-vaulted ceiling.
Off it was a long rectangular room that had been the bistro, along with a breakfast room, a commercial kitchen, and ancillary spaces.
A would-be entrepreneur could revisit this concept, for there are about six accommodation suites and salons across its three floors, which measure 1,380 square metres.
There is a large vaulted cellar below.
Here, there is a gated well recessed into a deep side-wall. A modern plaque reads: The Holy Trinity Well, dated 1356.
It is here and the tower that will need the most remedial works.
The converted stable block and coach house buildings located on the western side of the Abbey building contain seven self-catering cottages.
Extending to 485 square metres, these are a mix of one- and two-bedroom units across single and two-storey layouts.
The family seat of the Langrishes for nearly 300 years, until they sold it in 1981, the original abbey was established in the 14th century by James Butler, second earl of Ormond, as a settlement and friary of the Carmelite order, who observed their rule of silence there until 1536.
There had already been a Norman keep there, which was also incorporated.
More recently, it operated as a holiday resort.
With one fine dining establishment already in such proximity, it could make a good work-live business model where the family live in the stable block, and the main house is used for the restaurant.
It would make a beautiful boutique wedding venue or wellness resort.
It could be a fairytale family home.
This is a large-scale project that needs deep pockets to upgrade and successfully reimagine.
Don’t expect to see it on The Great House Revival anytime soon.
The property first came to market in 2024, seeking €1.75 million. It is now being auctioned by agents DNG Ella Dunphy on Thursday, May 14thand has an AMV of €1.85 million.
The auction starts at 1 pm.
