At the heart of the Lisselen estate, in the south of Ireland, stands this magnificent property built in the early 1850's by William Bence Jones and designed by celebrated architect Lewis Vulliamy (of the Vulliamy family of clockmakers). Sitting nobly on the banks of the the winding Argideen river, this period country home has an interesting history and retains much of its original features, with ornate cornicing, majestic ceiling roses. wooden flooring, sash windows and log-burning open fireplaces throughout. The main talking point however is the distinctively attractive and characterful tower which offers astounding views over Irish countryside.
This very comfortable and surprisingly manageable estate boasts 8 huge bedrooms and 5 reception rooms and would be ideal for entertaining large parties of guests with both the spectacular kitchen and drawing room opening out onto plush, manicured gardens and terrace areas. The estate also features numerous cottages set around an inner courtyard and dotted around the landscape. The glass conservatory was designed for the Cork exhibition of 1902 and was duly added to the chateau in 1907, with the addition of a library and reading room. Other notable rooms include the card room, bar and the elusively named Bavarian room.
The property is currently on the market in various lots, but it is possible to purchase the estate in its entirety which includes equestrian facilities, stabling, fishing, a golf course, 315 acres of land, farming amenities, shooting/sporting facilities, tennis courts as well as the Henry Ford ancestral site due to the fact that Henry's father and grandfather before him worked as tenant famers on the Lisselan Estate.
Most impressive are the 30 acres of formal gardens which were laid out in Robinsonian style shortly after the construction of the house and which adopt the undulating contours provided by the valley and the river. The garden features a number of dazzling plants and flowers which fragrance and illuminate the borders from March to September as well as an extraordinary rockery which Shirley Lanigan, author of 100 Best Gardens in Ireland describes as “one of the most beautiful features in the county, breathtaking and definitely worth travelling to see”. Other breathtaking elements of the gardens are the Japanese maple tree, the water garden, the walled gardens and various other unusual and rare plants.
The winding River Argideen has been widened to form a lake near the house and is ideal for fishing both Trout and Salmon with 1170m of double bank fishing, 455m of single bank fishing and ten named pools. The illustrious nine hole Lisselan Golf Club provides one of the most interesting and scenic courses in Ireland with two sets of tees at each hole and was voted one of the top ten best courses in Europe by Fore magazine in 1996. The Estate also benefits from being only 5km from some of Ireland's finest beaches and only 45km from the city of Cork.
The guide price is €2,950,000 for lot 1 (house and gardens) and €6 950 000 for the entire estate. For further information please contact Knight Frank on +44 20 7861 1782
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