The Hayloft

The loft apartment occupies the top floor of a stylish and stately outbuilding restoration, and stretches along one side of the old farm yard.

The main entrance is via an inconspicuous run of Venetian-bridge stone steps off an elevated drive to the rear, where a pair of glazed doors lead into the cavernous kitchen and dining area – the centre of this spacious loft level attic home.

A huge French-door fridge is the most visible example of state-of-the-art touch control appliances available to the culinary wizard. There is an over-abundance of every utensil imaginable.

Solid oak floors and doors, walls of earthy stone, and skirting height windows, create the natural background for zingy turquoise bespoke cabinetry on an exaggerated scale.
A couple of steps up from the kitchen, the sage green sitting room sports an eclectic assortment sumptuous sofas and chairs. There is an open fireplace here, and an impressive grid of tailored shelving, but the dominant feature is a 75 inch flat-screen smart TV.
Smart technology permeates the apartment, with hi speed broadband, Netflix and motion activated lights, and underfloor heating.

Just beyond the sitting room in this linear layout, a vestibule with guest WC and shower-room serves as clothes storage for the subsequent Master Bedroom.

Generous as ever, with more soaring ceilings and a Super King size bed, its ensuite also has a centre tap bath.
The remainder of the accommodation lies to the other end of the apartment.
Stepping down from the kitchen, ankle level lights blink on to reveal a hallway that veers off to cosy and colourful snug, with an ultra-deep, stripy sofa group to curl up on, and another huge flat screen TV.

Passing through the snug, there is a charming double bedroom with French doors onto a romantic breakfast balcony.

Back in the hallway, there is an elegant un-fussy twin bedroom to the side, and a dog-leg open stairway leading down to laundry utilities and a back door, and a surprise third double bedroom in the basement, overlooking the courtyard through an iconic extended-arch window.

All the bedrooms are ensuite with heated towel rails, and all the showers are double head.

The Hayloft is situated along one side of a restored farm yard. The opposite side currently houses a museum of the historic Woodhouse Estate, where the curator will be happy to give you a tour.

The parklands of the Estate range for 340 acres West from Stradbally village and are bisected by the meandering river Tay. There are 156 acres of woodland comprising of more than 150,000 trees – some dating back to the mid 18th century – are waiting to be explored either by foot or on cycle tracks.

Stradbally Cove with its sheltered sandy beach is across the road from the East gates. The owners occupy the eponymous Georgian mansion at the centre of this private estate, but visitors are free to enjoy the walled garden, impeccably reproduced Victorian glasshouse, and paddocks of grazing red deer. Please enquire about fishing rights or other activities on the estate.

Kitchen Appliances

• Wide Caple electric rotisserie oven
• Caple 5 ring induction hob
• Caple twin French door Fridge-freezer
• Integral Dishwasher
• Microwave
• Breville Toaster
• Nespresso coffee machine

Utility Appliances

• Hoover washing machine
• Hoover tumble dryer
• Iron

Bedrooms

• Sizes – Two double beds, two single beds and one Super King-size
• 2 Hairdryers

Tech & Entertainment

• Wi-Fi Internet
• 3 large smart flat-screen TVs – 50” – 55” – 75”
• Sky and Netflix
• Motion switch lighting

Other

• Good selection of books
• Underfloor heating
• Double head showers
• Enquire about fishing

• Paddle around in Kayaks
• Munch a lunch in the Tannery
• Sink a hole in one at West Waterford
• Cycle a stretch of the Waterford Greenway
• Music and a pint at the Local
• Walk and dip at Clonea Strand
• Trek a pony on the Copper Coast

• Golf the Gold Coast links
• Catch something serious in the ocean
• Hill walk the Comeraghs
• Adrenaline motoring at Rally Connection
• Play a round at Dungarvan
• Sample some glass with class
• Visit Reginald’s Viking tower

Stradbally – Gold Medal Winner in the Tidy Towns 2019 awards – is a short walk out of the estate, and has a grocery shop and a couple of pubs, but for a full range of shops, Dungarvan a 15 minute drive along the coast is your best bet.In Dungarvan, King John’s Castle, an Anglo-Norman fortification ( 1185) would have originally been entered by drawbridge. It is undergoing reconstruction but there are guided tours, an audio-visual show and exhibitions during the summer season.

Above Stradbally, there is the substantial ruin of the largest medieval church in rural Ireland. It contains a fortified presbytery, probably built for protection during the disputes between the Powers and Fitzgeralds, whose boundary lands ran through the area.

This region known as the Copper Coast gets its name from the copper mines that were active in the 19th century. It is a sometimes stormy coast that has more than its fair share of ship wrecks.

Road Bowling is a traditional and popular local sport that requires hours of practice and technique to master. 28oz steel balls are rolled in turn for just over a mile along roads from Fenor to Annestown.

About half an hour away, the magnificent Lismore Castle with its long and distinguished history, has splendid gardens open to the public during the summer months, and compelling cultural events are held in the town throughout the year.

They are mad about cycling in Dungarvan, and it was here that the first cycling club in Ireland was founded in 1869. The local club went on to win the first ever bike race in the British Isles. They still have the cup to prove it.

Mahon Falls is a dramatic 80m waterfall nestled in the Comeragh Mountains surrounded by breathtaking scenery. There is a car park near Lemybrien 15 minutes away from the house with a not too strenuous thereafter, so don’t miss it.

Tramore is about 35 minutes away, and is a popular resort for tourists in the summer. It has a 5km beach, sand dunes looking out onto the Atlantic Ocean, and a well deserved reputation for surfing, kite surfing and windsurfing. Clonea Strand is much closer, is one of the finest blue flag beaches in the region, and also has a growing reputation as a good surfing beach.

Waterford, about 45 minutes away, is Ireland’s oldest city. Originally a Viking settlement, it is now a major port with much to see and do. Glass, or crystal, was manufactured in the city from 1783 until early 2009, when the factory there was eventually shut down. There is a great annual Viking marathon in June.