The House
Restored over four years by three brothers. Sleeps six. The centre of a family farm in the Tipperary hills.
The main house at Gortnabool first appears on the Ordnance Survey of Ireland, surveyed in the early 1840s. Restored by family hands over four years, it anchors a family farm in the Tipperary hills.
The walls have stood since at least 1840. The interior reveals what the exterior conceals: visible stonework around the kitchen fireplace, lime-washed walls, and proportions that make sense in a house built when rooms were smaller. The restoration kept what was worth keeping — original timbers, traditional details, a low upstairs ceiling that's stayed a low upstairs ceiling — and introduced modern comforts quietly where they make daily life better.
The front door opens directly into the kitchen — a room that holds amenities for cooking, a solid-fuel wood-burning stove, and the visible stonework of the original fireplace. It's the working heart of the house.
Past the front door, a stream runs through the property. It's what fills the cold plunge.
The sitting room, off to the left, is the opulent counterpoint: gilt-framed pictures, panel mouldings worth a long look, and seating for six in front of the television. The couch converts to a double mattress when an extra two need a bed.
Sleeping is split between three places. A small double bedroom and a bathroom tiled floor to ceiling, with a walk-in shower, sit off the kitchen on the right. Upstairs — by a stairs that's either suitable for children or someone who doesn't mind crouching — there are two single beds under the eaves. The house sleeps up to six — between the small double, the two singles upstairs, and the convertible couch.
Features
What you'll find
Sleeping
- One small double bedroom (ground floor)
- Two single beds upstairs, under the eaves
- Convertible double in the sitting room
- Sleeps up to six
Bathing
- One bathroom — tiled floor to ceiling, walk-in power shower
- Hot water from an oil-fired boiler
Heating
- Oil-fired central heating with cast-iron radiators in the bedrooms and sitting room
- Solid-fuel wood-burning stove in the kitchen
Kitchen
- Electric cooker, kettle, coffee machine, air fryer
- Under-counter fridge
- Visible stonework around the original fireplace
Lean-to (off the kitchen)
- Full-size fridge
- Washing machine and dryer
- Sauna
Outside the front door
- A stream that runs past the house and on through the property
- Cold plunge fed by the stream
Out the back
- Patio with a jacuzzi
Throughout
- Wi-Fi
One thing to know
- The stairs to the upstairs is steep and the ceiling is low — suitable for children, or for adults who don't mind crouching
The house is one of five spaces at Gortnabool, but it's the centre. Mornings start in the kitchen. Dinner is cooked here, and eaten where it's made. Evenings end at the sitting-room television, or by the wood-burner. The Shepherd's Hut, the Síbín, the gardens, and the wellness ritual — sauna, jacuzzi, cold plunge — are all a short walk from the front door. But most days, the house is where everyone drifts back to.