Knockhouse in Co Waterford is so big, that you’d fit the equivalent of a whole street of nine average Irish family homes inside its walls.
At 9,300 sq ft with six bedrooms, six bathrooms and seven acres, the upmarket home at Killotteran overlooking the River Suir is located just outside Waterford city.
It comes to market this week for €1.575m, making it the third most expensive property currently for sale in the country. A view of the 9,300 sq ft property located on the outskirts of Waterford city And it’s the second largest for sale in Waterford after the €1.85m Pouldrew House, an 1815-built country house at Kilmeaden which spans 11,500 sq ft with eight bedrooms.
To the untrained eye, Knockhouse is also pretty convincing in its period portrayal given that it was constructed just 22 years ago in 2000. It was designed by award-winning local architect John Santry with lots of input from the current owners.
And while the term ‘mansion’ is used fairly flippantly in Ireland to describe any detached period home somewhat larger than those around it (Irish agents consider anything over 5,000 sq ft to be a ‘mansion’), in the UK and USA, mansion entry level is 8,000 sq ft plus.
So there’s no doubt whatsoever that Knockhouse, is a ‘mansion’ in the truly global sense. While some details in its exterior do give the game away, it stands up well compared with the legions of mock Georgian ‘McMansions’ Ireland threw up in the Celtic Tiger years.
The external window and door surrounds along with the dado rail and corbels which adorn the house were designed to an exact specification and each piece was cast on site.
Inside, apart from the truly grand entrance hall with its bespoke bifurcated staircase, the rooms are quite regular, albeit finished to a very high standard. Some will need updating.
So if you are a moneybags type in search of a mansion on ground in the south east, why would you buy 22-year-old Knockhouse when you can have the ‘real deal’ with exquisite hand craftsmanship from the 18th and 19th centuries? And for close enough to the same price?
