Parties, a pool and a perfect garden: living in Coollattin

Co Wicklow: €800,000Ten years after moving to a country house on the Coollattin estate in Wicklow, journalist Nell Stewart-Liberty is moving west

Having lived for more than a year in a flat in Kildare Street in Dublin, we yearned for a more inspiring view than the second floor of the Shelbourne Hotel, so when we first saw this house on the Coollattin estate in Co Wicklow and I gazed out the windows of what is now my bedroom, across the bell tower to the large fields and hills beyond, I knew this was just the spot we were looking for.

And the rare miniature sycamore trees in the fields planted by the Fitzwilliam family make the perfect backdrop for what is now my pride and joy, the flower-filled gardens.

But first to make the house into a home, a proper country home. Instant homeliness was achieved by the installation of a brand new four-oven Aga. In the drawingroom an Adam-style marble fireplace added an elegant touch to the pretty room with its French doors leading out to the garden.

A new roof, using traditional slates, was put in place by superb local builders and then we were ready to start on the walled gardens which were a blank canvas just waiting for me to indulge my passion for roses, azaleas, camellias, peonies and lilies - all the wonderful blooms of a traditional country garden.

And how generous gardeners are: we were the lucky and grateful recipients of all sorts of exotic flora from other gardening enthusiasts, including Corona North and Arthur Shackleton. Their precious cuttings and seedlings thrive and flourish in the sunny, sheltered newly created borders.

Having been brought up on the shores of Lough Swilly in Co Donegal, an element of water was essential, so a large swimming pool was built; I didn't realise just how much concrete it takes to create a swimming pool, but it was worth every penny and the heated pool is in constant use, not just by us, but is also enjoyed by friends of all ages.

Our house was always destined to be a party house, be it casual drinks in the large garden room, more formal dinner parties in the diningroom or very informal barbecue parties in the garden, and nothing gives me more pleasure than to lie on the grass and listen to shouts of laughter from the tennis court or gaze across to the pool full of people having fun in our home.

And how easy it is to feed our friends: it's a peaceful stroll over to my husband's vegetable garden to pick luscious strawberries, lettuces, tomatoes, radishes and a host of other vegetables and fruits for an instant lunch, enough to feed however many people drop in or come to stay for the weekend.

I love this house. It's easy, with the help of Anne our lovely housekeeper, to keep it clean and tidy and it is totally relaxing and charming whatever the weather (there's always the billiard room or Sky TV for when it's lashing outside).

With Coollattin Golf Club just across the road, my handicap should certainly be better than a hopeless 35, but it's just so wonderful to sit in the scent-filled luxurious gardens. There's always tomorrow to perfect my swing.

And now it's time to find a new blank canvas to create another home and garden; perhaps my golf will improve when I don't have the famous trees of Coollattin to play with.

Quail Wood house in Coollattin, Shillelagh, Co Wicklow, was built in 1860 for staff of the Coollattin estate on about 1.5 acres just off the Coollattin to Shillelagh road. It has four bedrooms and a separate apartment. It will be sold at auction on July 20th by Warren Estates, Gorey, Co Wexford. It has a guide of €800,000.