Description

Entrance Hall, Staircase Hall, Drawing Room, Dining Room, Study/TV room, Kitchen, Utility Room, Playroom, Cloakrooms.
Seven Bedrooms, Three Bathrooms. Separate two-bedroom Coach House. Garage. Stone Workshop.
 
Delightful Walled Gardens with Mature Trees and Shrubs. Orchard.
Panoramic Views over Cork Harbour.
 

In all about 1.00 hectare (2.50 acres)

Merton is a fine Regency house built around 1800 occupying a wonderful secluded position high above Cork Harbour with magnificent vistas over the Inner Harbour, over Spike Island and out to the Harbour mouth. The impressive property exudes much character and has undergone a sympathetic programme of renovation and refurbishment in recent years, under the supervision of conservation engineer Peter Haughton. The original three-storey house was extended to the east in the 1830’s with a two storey, bow fronted addition designed to take maximum advantage of the wonderful southerly views - these rooms are of particularly fine proportions with high ceilings and full height sash windows lending a light and airy feel to the house. Merton extends to some 5,000 sq ft of floor space and provides two halls, two fine reception rooms (one double), large kitchen and breakfast room together with up to 7 to 8 bedrooms and three bathrooms. 
 
Merton has enjoyed a varied and colourful history – the author Rev. Francis Orpen Morris was born here in 1810, writing a number of important books including ‘Country Seats of Great Britain and Ireland’ and several authoritative works on natural history. During the late 19th Century the house was leased to the British Admiralty as an Officer’s Mess. The Drawing Room ceiling when uncovered by the then owner in 1920s, was found to be covered in stamps, attributed to an after-dinner game of flicking a licked stamp on the back of a coin towards the ceiling.
 
The property is located off a quiet lane surrounded by delightful walled gardens laid out and planted in the 19^th Century. The gardens and grounds are a particular feature of the house and are reputed to share many plants with nearby Fota House. They include a woodland walk, orchard, and Victorian Italianate garden together with terraced gardens overlooking the sea with a three hundred year old Spanish chestnut at the centre. The former coach house in the yard currently provides office accommodation.

Michael H Daniels & Co

Agent Contact Details

• The Old Mill
• Castletownroche
• Mallow
• Co. Cork

• Tel: 00 353 (0) 22 46996
• Fax: 00 353 (0) 22 46987
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