A home again, naturally

CO WEXFORD: €1.25 million:A fine, self-sufficient house on 25 acres crammed with period detail, Ravenswood House was once owned by the pop singer Gilbert O'Sullivan. It's an ideal property for a family

RAVENSWOOD HOUSE, just outside Bunclody in Co Wexford, is a five-bedroom Georgian country house with a fine provenance: it was once the family home of songsmith Gilbert O’Sullivan. The man who was born Raymond OSullivan in Waterford fused Beatlesque popcraft with an old-fashioned music hall sensibility to create a niche for himself in the heady glamrock laden early 1970s. O’Sullivan sold the property in the 1980s.

The current owners bought the house in 2001. The 25-acre property has an asking price of €1.275 million through agents Colliers. Previously, the property had been on the market for €2.25 million.

The couple completely refurbished the property, rewired, replumbed and installed new sash windows. They also did a lot of work on the grounds, adding post and rail fences throughout the property.

The main entrance is via a set of granite steps. Roses climb around the front door and outside railings. Inside, the property has many period features including ornate plasterwork and marble fireplaces. At entrance level there is a fine drawing-room, and a second reception room which the current owners call the music room because it is home to a baby grand piano. When the owners hold parties they have someone tinkle the ivories for them, drawing on the singer’s hits Clair and Alone Again, Naturally. A third reception roomand a dining room have patterned wallpaper and swagged curtains. There are several rooms devoted to offices at this level.

The couple prefer to enter the house at garden level, driving through the stable yard.

There is a fine country-style eat-in kitchen and also a boot room and a fitness room with separate sauna and shower as well as a pantry and a wine store. A TV room is where they spend most of their evenings.

On the ground floor return there are two bedrooms; both have en suites. On the first floor there are three double bedrooms. The sizeable master bedroom has his and hers bathrooms and walk-in wardrobes. The second double also has its own ensuite bathroom and walk-in wardrobe. The third bedroom has a bathroom adjacent to it. A three-person lift has been installed in the house operating between garden level and the first floor.

The couple are downsizing and hope to stay in the area. They first came to Ireland 50 years ago and are here so long that they are now “more Irish than the Irish themselves”.

The owner doesn’t see the house as being “alone again, naturally” for too long, describing Ravenswood as a “warm, friendly house that would suit a family”. The next owner may want to change some of the decor to suit their own tastes.

The property comes with a self-contained one-bedroom flat above the stables – formerly O’Sullivan’s old studio space. There are other outhouses in the yard with space for logs, a gardener’s shed, and a generator. Ravenswood is completely self-sufficient.

There is also a stand-alone guest cottage.

The gardens include a lovely ornate design to the front, lawn to the side of the house, a hard tennis court, a vegetable garden, and a patio to the rear that is west-facing and a suntrap.

The house is said to have been used during penal times as a place to say mass. Its elevated site gave lookouts ample time to warn mass-goers of any redcoat activity. It was said that there was a tunnel from the house that took the parishioners to relative safety.

When renovating, the couple didn’t find any evidence of its existence, but note that land in the paddocks leading down to the house has sunk in a straight line, giving some credence to the story.

The property is 2.4 km from the village of Bunclody, on the Carlow side. Carlow town is 29 km away. Wexford town is a 49 km drive.

Ravenswood House, Bunclody, Co Wexford

Refurbished period home on 25 acres with separate flat and guest cottage

Agent: Colliers