“WHEN WE WERE DRIVING towards the house to view it, my wife’s breathing changed, her heart started racing and she immediately just said ‘this is it’.”
The New England-style house was so beautiful that poet Denise Blake (regular on RTE Radio 1′s Sunday Miscellany) eventually used it as the atmospheric backdrop for recitals, poetry workshops and as a venue for a Donegal storytelling festival last year.
“The house is ideal as a safe place for writers. If you can’t write here, you can’t write anywhere. We have everything in the 3.5 acres – the sea at the bottom of the garden, a waterfall, streams, birds, foxes, badgers, rabbits. It’s very conducive to creativity,” says the current owner.
As the owners are now in their sixties, it’s being considered by potential buyers for everything from commercial opportunities to a home for kids, with ‘trees that are just meant to be played in’. It’s on sale for €850,000.
Located along the Wild Atlantic Way, people stop off so often at the house that the current owners keep copies of the plans for when they ask. It’s also a frequent location for wedding photos:
“We have people come in and ask can they take pictures for their wedding and then be taken aback by the entrance hallway. We have so many pictures of brides with their train behind them on the stairs.”
Blake, who was originally born in the United States, was attracted to the house’s resemblance to American houses: “The house has a strong New England feel with the two verandas and the height of the rooms. There’s a great feeling of peace and homeliness about it despite the size of it.”
Despite the fact that it was only built by a local man in 2005, the owners admit that people often think the house is a lot older because of its classic design. The house came in such pristine condition that they haven’t needed to make any additions over the years.
The hardwood kitchen is painted vanilla and has granite workshops, a six-ring cooker, high ceilings, cornicing and a central island with bar chairs, and the owners say it was “often where we would congregate with extended family.”
Without question, the conservatory (entered via double French doors from the kitchen) is the current owners’ favourite room in the entire 4,000 square foot house: ”That’s where we would often sit and see the sun rising in the morning and reflecting off the sea.”
The owners share that a potential buyer remarked at a recent viewing that the master bathrooms ‘feels like a football field’: “The main bathroom en-suite is massive, and has double sinks, a bidet, a toilet and a bath in the middle of the floor.”
Despite the beautiful conservatory, the master bedroom is usually the room that stands out as the favourite of most visitors, say the new owners:
“In the master bedroom is the bay window with a seat looking out over the shore. There’s also a full attic with three bedrooms which is gorgeous. It’s where the kids stayed and played most of the time.”
The current owners have planning permission for a 140 square metre extension, intending to build toilets and a kitchen for their poetry workshop space.
The detached double garage has a water supply, loft flooring and central heating and could also be converted to an apartment, pending planning permission.
Carn Lodge, Ramelton, Co Donegal is on sale for €850,000 from Sherry Fitzgerald via Daft.ie.
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