Dundarave Estate was brought to the market for sale earlier this year in June. At the time, selling agents Savills offered the mansion home, along with 550 acres of pasture, arable land and woodland, at an asking price of £5m.

Last week, it was announced that a subsidiary of the Randox Group, a Crumlin-based medical analysis company, had completed the purchase of the estate, which now comprised the mansion and around 1,200 acres of land. Irish Country Living understands that an extra 600 acres of land were included in the sale, which had been previously set aside for development as it had secured planning permission for a five-star 120-bedroom hotel and 18-hole golf course.

While the selling price was not disclosed, it is believed a fee close to £10m (€12.6m) was paid for the historic estate. Neal Morrison, Savills Belfast, said the group was “delighted” to confirm the sale of Dundarave Estate, less than six months after it was first put on the market. The sale, which was a collaboration between Savills Dublin, Belfast and London offices, attracted “significant global interest” as it is a rarity to find a historic estate in Northern Ireland which remains largely intact with this amount of land.

History

The earliest records of Dundarave Estate date back 275 years ago to 1739, when William Harrison was awarded a freehold estate on the outskirts of the village of Bushmills, famous for the historic whiskey distillery.

The estate was acquired by the Macnaghten family in 1805 and remained in their possession to the present day. Sir Malcolm Macnaghten was the last of his family to own the estate, when he acquired Dundarave in 2007 before deciding to sell the property this year.

The house

The original house built on the estate was completely destroyed in the mid-19th century, when Sir Edmund Macnaghten constructed the modern-day mansion house between 1846 and 1849. The grade one-listed house was designed by Sir Charles Lanyon to a classical Georgian design, with well-portioned reception rooms and thoughtfully laid out gardens.

The house has five principal bedrooms on the ground floor, along with a dining room, drawing room, billiard room, library, school room, gun room, as well as a number of other service rooms. The second floor comprises a further 14 bedrooms, many of which have views over the surrounding gardens and courtyard.

Dundarave Farm

The estate purchased by the Randox Group now comprises around 1,200 acres, instead of the 550 acres originally advertised. Some 350 acres of the estate have been given planning permission for a new five-star hotel and championship golf club golf club.

Approximately 400 acres of the land are described as excellent-quality arable and pasture land, while 112 acres are covered in mature woodland. The natural woodland has been used in recent years to develop a hunting business known as Dundarave Shoot, where patrons can hunt pheasant.

In all, there are three farmyards on the estate, along with the pheasant-rearing facility. An old stone farmyard is situated to the rear of the main house, comprising stables, stalls, coach houses, feed rooms, chicken house and an old piggery. Located close by is the sheep farmyard, including a 1,600 sq ft slatted shed. The final yard includes an enclosed courtyard with more coach houses, stables, a feed house and staff canteen.

The estate also includes a three-bedroom manager’s house, garden cottage, two farm lodges and a derelict gate lodge.