A Georgian farmhouse situated on a roadside holding of approximately 132 acres at Ballycogley, Co Wexford, fetched a whopping €1.84 million as the hammer finally fell in an online auction.
Auctioneer David Quinn of Quinn Property had initially put a guide price of €1.4m on Thornville House, Ballycogley, but even he was struck by the “remarkable price” it attracted in the bidding. The property was initially offered in lots, with approximately 10 parties registered to bid in the online auction. Lot 1 comprised of around 74.7 acres with the residence and farmyard with Lot 2 consisting of 57.5 acres of land. Finally, the option would be available to purchase the residence, farmyard and adjoining lands in their entirety.
Bidding on Lot 1 began at €600,000 and reached €700,000 after the first round of bidding. Lot 2 opened at €450,000 and quickly made its way up to €610,000 initially, meaning that bids for the entire property together had to exceed the combined offer of €1.31m to remain a viable option for sale. A bid of €1.33m was quickly lodged and several more bids came in quickly after to bring the price for the entire property up to €1.59m.
Prior to calling a break for client instructions, the auctioneer gave bidders on Lots 1 and 2 the opportunity to catch up with the €1.59 million on the table for Lot 3 (The Entire). However, no further offers were made on either lot, meaning the residence and lands would all be sold as one lot.
Upon returning the auction room, David Quinn confirmed he had been instructed by the vendor to place Lot 3 ‘on the market’. With the property there to be sold, bidders were keen to secure this sizeable holding and bids came in thick and fast. There were dramatic scenes as bids came in just in time to keep the auction alive on several occasions. In all, there were 25 further bids after Thornville House was put on the market and the hammer ultimately fell at €1.84 million.
Thornville House was built in the early 1830s by a Mr John Lloyd and is regarded as being a fine example of the typical Georgian architecture of the time, maximising the scenic views of the gently rolling countryside.
The house has many attractive original features such as cut-granite sills, timber sash windows, carved timber surrounds to door openings and panelled shutters on windows. However, the auctioneer conceded that the residence” has been unoccupied in recent years and is in need of renovation and restoration work”.
Whether it was for the sizeable parcel of land associated, the potential the historic residence offers, or a combination of both, it certainly exceeded expectations at auction.
This article was written by Padraig Byrne and published by the Wexford People. It can be accessed by clicking here.
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