It took two years to renovate and takes up to two gardeners to look after its 7 acres, but this near perfect period house has it all

THESE DAYS a house anywhere in the country that comes on the market with an asking price of €6.5 million prompts a closer look.

Wilford House on Dublin Road in Shankill is, as it turns out, an imposing and recently renovated Georgian house on 7 acres of landscaped gardens – an usually large private garden for any home so close to the city.

For sale through agent Sherry FitzGerald, it last changed hands just 10 years ago – for a little over half its current asking price – when it was in very poor condition and the new owner employed Sisk to carry out the extensive renovations. Now the six-bedroom family house has 645sq m (6,950sq ft) of space spread over four storeys while the renovated three-bedroom coach-house, across a walled courtyard, has 200sq m (2,152sq ft).

In layout, it’s one of those perfect Georgian houses (it was built in the 1790s) where rooms mirror each other so the two fine formal reception rooms off the entrance hall are identical, with grand proportions, elaborate cornicework and tall sash windows.

Another typical, though now highly unusual feature, is the striking spiral staircase in the inner hall and curved walls of the upper hallways so the bedrooms are accessed via gently curved doors. There are marble-finished bathrooms on each level while the larger bedrooms have en suites. The house is two-storey over basement to the front, three at the back and in the garden level return is a study and family room.

Down at basement level is a large, bright eat-in kitchen with high ceilings and fitted with country-style cream painted timber units topped with black granite. There are the usual additional service rooms (utility, pantry, etc). A large room down at this level is fitted out as a home gym but it would make a perfect additional family room for buyers with small children.

There’s also a games room complete with full-size snooker table.

It’s clear that during the renovation, which lasted two years, everything was done to bring out the best in the house and make it an impressive though very comfortable family home.

The elegant house is well back from the electric gates and approached via a winding gravel driveway, flanked on both sides by well-stocked, landscaped gardens. The gardens are spectacular, requiring a full-time gardener supplemented by an additional gardener in spring and summer.

Closer to the house is a walled garden with four patio areas, designed as an outdoor space for barbecues, and a formal sunken garden with a water feature. There’s also an orchard, a hazel grove and a vegetable garden.