Millfarm is a large, detached four-bedroom home and equestrian set-up located in the heart of rolling Kildare countryside, on the edge of the Curragh plains and close to Kilcullen and Kildare town.
The insulated concrete-form house was built by the current owners nine years ago – they are selling to move overseas and have placed the property and adjoining 21 acres on the market with Sherry FitzGerald seeking €1.35 million.
As well as a great eye for design, the owners were keen to make the house as sustainable as possible, with high levels of insulation, solar panels on the roof, underfloor heating and a heat recovery system, resulting in a large, roomy house that is cosy on a brisk October morning, with an A3 Ber.
A long, gravelled driveway splits just before the house, which is surrounded by beech and buxus hedging. The wide-ranging gardens around the house are studded with birch and beech trees, and in the centre of the garden is a sturdy young oak.
The entrance hall has room for a baby grand piano under the open stairs which have a glass balustrade in a double-height atrium. A wall of acoustic panels on the leftside of the hallway contains doors that lead to a den with a multitude of tall, narrow windows and beyond it a well-equipped home office, with built-in units, storage and another door connecting it to a living area.
Lying at the rear of the house, the living area is a great space, comprised of angles and interesting vistas over the surrounding paddocks and fields. One wall is painted a warm green – this is very much a signature colour of this build, reappearing in most of the rooms, unifying the 393sq m (4230 sq ft) property.
An efficient Barbas stove is flanked by niches full of firewood, and beside it a large TV hangs on a warm, walnut panel. Sliding doors open up on to a patio and beside it is the vast kitchen/dining area.
Angles and lines are employed here again to great effect, with a run of units on an angled wall while the large island opposite runs on another line. Units are high-gloss, the countertops are a composite stone, with Neff oven and a Liebherr fridge. With seating at the island and space for a long dining table, it’s a home that can drop into entertaining mode effortlessly.
Behind the kitchen is a suite of workhorse areas: a back hall with some lovely panelling and ingenious coat hooks; a utility that has more of the lovely built-in units that feature throughout the house, painted a dark-green here, and a shower room that doubles as a guest WC for this level.
Upstairs there are four bedrooms, all good sized doubles and the main bedroom is a beautiful suite, the ceiling is high and vaulted, a telescope in a corner window that opens on to a private balcony hints at the stupendous night-time skies to be enjoyed out here. The en suite is luxurious, with a combination of large and mosaic tiling and a free-standing bath underneath a shuttered window. The walk-in wardrobe is long, capacious with more perfect cabinetry.
Two more bedrooms have sea foam-coloured built-in wardrobes and like all the upstairs rooms, stunning views over the surrounding countryside. The final bedroom has a handsome en suite and there’s a lovely main bathroom on this level as well.
Linked to the house by a portico and before the extensive suite of outbuildings and garages is a separate studio, currently in use as a home gym, but adaptable to any amount of uses as it has a small kitchen and shower room.
An American barn has seven stables, a tack room and a loft, a separate garage has parking bays and any amount of storage for a working equestrian set-up. As well as the multiple paddocks, there’s a turnout area, a sand arena, and for any family member who’s not into horses, a floodlit tennis court.
Nearby primary schools include Suncroft and Ballysax, while there are a number of secondary schools in nearby towns, including Kilcullen and Newbridge.
Located between the M7 and M9 motorways, commuting should not be too onerous, and the Curragh racecourse is 15 minutes away.
