A Co Longford holding that includes a six-bedroom detached Georgian main house, a mill house that dates from the 1600s, outbuildings, 100 metres of river frontage, a polytunnel and private water well, with potential to generate your own electricity on the waterway.
If you’re looking for a lifestyle change, within a 120-kilometre drive of Dublin, this storied six-bedroom Georgian house, complete with mill house, outbuildings and river frontage, could be your next move.
It’s about eight kilometres east of Ballymahon, and a 33 km drive to Granard.
Address: Clooneen House, Mill and Gardens, Granard, Co. Longford, N91 C432
Asking price: €775,000
Agent: Chazey Properties
Its current owners, psychotherapist Catherine and her French husband Francis Muller, bought it in 1996, drawn by the fact that the main house, a six-bedroom, four-bathroom detached residence that dates from about 1800, had already been renovated.
She’s a psychotherapist who used the mill house for workshops in wellbeing, long before it went mainstream.
He set to work enhancing the grounds, creating the mature gardens that stretch across some 2.5 acres of the 4.7 acres of grounds, the rest of which is across the road.
The mill was where people gathered, she explains.
In existence for about 400 years, it is a real part of the vernacular heritage.
Its sandstone millstones came from France and are visible on the first floor, where the timber and steel cogs can be seen across both floors.
While it has lovely timber flooring, whitewashed and exposed stone walls and a wood-burning stove downstairs, it will need a kitchen to make it a habitable space.
Set over two floors, and extending to about 70 square metres.
This is a gorgeous space to work from home or to rent, either short or long-term. The mill wheel is still extant outside.
The property also comes with its own well that they have extensively upgraded.
“We invested seriously in good water. We now have the best water in Ireland,” she explains. They dug a new well 81.5 metres underground.
There’s a separate pump house where there are UV filters and reverse osmosis processes to remove contaminants, along with a system that removes lime, so the water is soft.
With its own private water source, thoughts of many will turn to self-sufficiency.
For starters, there’s a polytunnel where they grow their own fruit and vegetables.
“The potatoes are in and doing well," she says. “We always have salads and herbs.”
There are grapes in the tunnel and peppers, aubergines, and courgettes have all been planted.
But to be truly self-sufficient, you now need to be able to generate your own electricity. PV panels could be installed to cover the summer months.
To look at a year-round option, the property’s 100 metres of direct frontage to the river Clooneen will be of interest.
“When we came here first, we thought about generating our own electricity. We did explore it, but not in depth. Now I’d say there’s a real possibility.”
It’s something billionaire inventor James Dyson, who bought the Ballintray estate on the Blackwater river, on the Cork/Waterford border, is said to have looked at.
Already, a west barn on the property has been turned into an energy centre.
For those with properties abounding in rivers, Murph’s Gastro Pub in Butler’s Bridge, Co Cavan, is an example to watch closely.
It recently sought planning permission to try and do something similar for its commercial premises.
The idea is to use a world-first technology that would allow the premises to run on power from the river outside its front door.
The technology is a small, floating turbine designed by Limerick firm GKinetic.
It operates similarly to the turbines used in major hydroelectricity plants, but these units – or pods – are just a couple of metres wide and can work in less than a metre of water.
They are not fixed to the riverbed, so they can be lifted and repositioned easily.
They also have sensors that tell them to move out of the way to let unexpected debris, boats or other objects pass by.
The principal residence here is a period property that dates from circa 1800.
BER-exempt, the Georgian country house has two staircases; the main one is in the entrance hall.
To the left is a sitting room, while to the right is the kitchen cum breakfast room.
This leads through to the family room, where a second staircase, a spiral one, ascends to the first floor.
The family room opens into the formal dining room and through to the living room.
Both of the spaces are dual aspect and open to the garden, which extends to about 2.5 acres of the overall 4.72 acres.
Upstairs, there are six bedrooms, three of which have ensuite bathrooms.
A fourth bedroom has a Jack and Jill bathroom. It shares access with the family bathroom.
Chazey Properties is seeking €775,000 for the property.
