Asking price: \u20ac995,000<\/p>\n
Agent: Savills (01) 6181300<\/p>\n
\u200bThe Leprechaun Museum and The World Of Illusion are two of Dublin\u2019s attractions that have proven popular for making us feel small. At the former there\u2019s a giant chair and table, which provides many a photo opportunity for punters and their children who want to look like they\u2019ve shrunk, while the latter utilises clever visual alignments to achieve the same effect.<\/p>\n
Tinnacouse, a modern detached residence at Skeaghvasteen outside Graiguenamanagh in Co Kilkenny, achieves something similar \u2013 simply because it\u2019s a very big house with a \u2018regular\u2019 number of rooms. So it might take a visitor a while to comprehend what they are seeing.<\/p>\n
Because a house that contains 4,300 sq ft of floor space (the equivalent of four standard three-bed family homes) would most usually contain five or six bedrooms, not four. And there would usually be many more receptions and ancillary rooms.<\/p>\n
What that means is that that most of its rooms are very large indeed. You get a hall as big as a small dance floor, a bathroom the size of a standard living room, and so on. This unusual feature makes the modern Kilkenny home ideal for a big active family with lots going on.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Stephen and Caitriona Barron at their home, Tinnacouse, in Co Tipperary. Photo: Barbara McCarthy<\/p>\n
Tinnacouse has undergone a transformation since its current owners, the Barron family, moved in in the Spring of 2020. \u201cWe moved in the day before Covid-19 lockdown, so it became a focal point for our three sons\u2019 hobbies,\u201d says owner Caitriona Barron.<\/p>\n
The boys \u2013 who are aged seven, 13 and 17 \u2013 started off with mini quads, then segued to golf, hurling, paddleboards, kayaking and now there\u2019s a gym, she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks to its vast spaces and large amounts of storage, the house can keep reinventing itself as the boys grow older. We love a good project, and Covid-19 gave us one.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The exterior of Tinnacouse<\/p>\n
After they moved in, the couple worked on the grounds, planting, shaping flowerbeds and tarmacking the driveway, while enjoying the fruits of the home office and no school.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur first summer in the house was spent almost entirely outdoors swimming, kayaking, and living along the banks of the River Barrow, which runs through the bottom of the property. It was the best intro you could get to a house \u2013 the weather was great too. \u201c<\/p>\n
In terms of decor, they didn\u2019t want the size of it to affect the vibe. \u201cWe loved the fact that the house is massive, with large ceilings, and open-plan, but wanted it to be cosy and inviting,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The vast bathroom at Tinnacouse<\/p>\n
The house was built eight years before they bought it, as a holiday home, by a surgeon who never really used it, so the property was essentially brand new.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe walls were all painted when we moved in, lots of bright colours \u2013 the hallway was pink. We wanted minimal and streamlined, so we enlisted the services of interior designer Emma Butler from White Meadow interiors and she helped us with the colour palates \u2013 like duck egg, blues and greys, and the furniture,\u201d she adds. \u201cWe don\u2019t like clutter or trinkets. Everything has its place. We like minimalism and functionality.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inside the accommodation comprises an open-plan kitchen and dining area with double French doors to the garden and patio. The kitchen is fitted with custom units and an island.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
One of the receptions at Tinnacouse<\/p>\n
\u201cWe kept the kitchen simple. It\u2019s a large space, so it\u2019s open-plan, with an American style, and has a large pale blue Smeg fridge and matching kettle and toaster,\u201d Stephen Barron says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe kitchen is painted white, so it\u2019s neutral, but we have hand-designed blinds. It\u2019s the centre point, but we kept it casual, so it\u2019s inviting. It\u2019s a great spot for entertaining. We do lots of entertaining \u2013 especially at Christmas \u2013 and you can create a large entertaining area, which easily accommodates 50 to 60 guests. The kids like to have friends over too, you\u2019d never know they were there. The house can absorb a lot of people,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n
The kitchen leads to a family room and living room with parquet flooring and a solid fuel stove.<\/p>\n
A separate hallway off the entrance provides access to a utility room, playroom, storeroom, bathroom, and a ground floor bedroom.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe original herringbone floors were sanded and restored. It\u2019s a very big space, so we painted the walls, and just hung some art. We love the space \u2013 you can fit a massive Christmas tree into the hallway,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
The first floor has three bedrooms \u2013 two of which are en suite \u2013 a family bathroom, and a storage room, with one bedroom featuring a walk-in wardrobe and another large bedroom with potential to be subdivided, he adds. The master en suite bedroom has a double aspect view.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe converted the upstairs hot press into a walk in wardrobe. Upstairs there are three bathrooms, with one bathroom downstairs and a WC,\u201d says Stephen.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The unusually spacious hall at Tinnacouse<\/p>\n
The house also has an A2 BER rating, which keeps fuel costs down \u2013 hugely important for a house this size.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have triple glazing and airtight construction. It\u2019s pretty airtight and insulation in walls, roofs, and floors is really sustainable. It\u2019s insulated from floor to cabinet,\u201d he says. \u201cWe only need one stove, no back boiler. The house uses oil, and last year we only needed to fill a 1,600 litre tank, which is pretty good.\u201d<\/p>\n
The kitchen leads out onto a south-facing patio, which stretches the length of the kitchen and TV room. \u201cWe put in furniture, integrated speakers and outdoor heating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outside, the property extends to approximately 6.6 acres, with a fenced paddock and woodland. \u201cThe double garage outside is huge. My oldest son is 17, and he loves fitness, so we got a gym put in, but there\u2019s still loads of space for workshops,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Lots of room in the master bedroom at Tinnacouse<\/p>\n
\u201cOur children have been central to the evolution of the house. We have a paddock with horses out the back \u2013 also for the kids. My son had 30 sheep at one point. We got them from the west of Ireland and he learned to look after them before selling them on. It\u2019s random, but you can do that with a house like this one,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re both from the area and our families are here. There\u2019s a GAA pitch nearby, and you can walk there \u2013 you can walk to Graiguenamanagh along the river Barrow from the bottom of the garden.\u201d<\/p>\n
The couple say they are moving on because they want a new project.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe bought a new house close by, which we\u2019ll be renovating. It\u2019s a bit older, and a little bit smaller, but we love a challenge, and renovating a house is one of the biggest challenges you can take,\u201d says Stephen.<\/p>\n
Savills seeks \u20ac995,000 on their behalf.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Asking price: \u20ac995,000 Agent: Savills (01) 6181300 \u200bThe Leprechaun Museum and The World Of Illusion are two of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":439730,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,61,60,898],"class_list":["post-439729","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news-ticker"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439729","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=439729"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/439729\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/439730"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=439729"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=439729"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=439729"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}