Kilkenny houses are in the news in a big way this week - some for good reasons and some - for reasons that could be construed as good or bad - depending on what side of the fence you are at.
Bohermore House in Graiguenamangh is a success story and the somewhat strange-looking house is up for a prestigious award in November. It is located in a very modest area in a field in Graiguenamanagh and it is currently being admired by top architects all over the world, and scrutinised to see if it is worthy of one of the sought-after 45 awards that will be presented in Barcelona in November. It would be a huge coup for Peter Cody, the designer and architect from Graiguenamanagh, who is up against much bigger fish in this competition. Fingers crossed that his unique design which can be seen on page 8 this week will win out over other projects and Kilkenny will add another special building of contemporary importance to its already lengthy list of historically important buildings.
Duninga House in Goresbridge in Co Kilkenny is a different story of course and is in the news for all the wrong reasons... or are they the right ones? For the past decade, eager property buyers have been ripped off by developers who got greedy and looked for way above the odds for what properties were worth. Now we have a property in Kilkenny that is selling for way below what it is worth. Duninga House is not just a house - it is a potential business and comes with 14 free houses! It is something like our artist Dan last week who had a picture for sale with a free house! It is a bizarre situation and one that we never thought we would see in our lifetime, but the fact is - property is losing its value by the second. A property is only valuable if more than one person wants it and unfortunately, it looks like nobody wants Duninga House. It is a stunning property in need of much TLC but worth the effort if someone had the time, effort and money to put into it. The fact that it comes with 14 free houses is a bit of a carrot for anyone who may have the spare €1 million cash lying around the house. But people are scared to spend money at the moment - whether they have it or not. The Government has frightened people into not spending and hoarding every cent they have - but how does an economy recover with this attitude. Money makes the world go around and if we don’t spend, the world stops. This will have drastic consequences and unless someone points out this blatantly obvious point to those in power - this country is just going to stop.
However, if someone out there does have the dosh to do up Duninga House and look after the holiday village - it might be a nice little earner in a few years’ time!
