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10 November 2015

Featured Property: Holiday in Style in the ultimate retreat

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IT is perhaps the ultimate holiday home – designed by a local man to ensure his family had the best time when they escaped to Donegal for their regular annual and weekend breaks.

Jack McCabe (51) from Belfast, who owns his own stone import business, designed Heather’s Grove himself and had it build to a very high specification in 2008.

Now that his three children have grown up and no longer want to holiday with their parents in Donegal, Jack has put this very special property on the market.

The house has been designed with entertainment in mind with open plan accommodation and enough beds to sleep 13 people with six bedrooms and four bathrooms.

Jack’s profession as a dealer in natural stone means that the interior floors and skirtings have all been finished in granite with sandstone used on the exterior and in the outdoor patio areas.

Sitting just beside a Blue Flag sandy beach and with an outdoor children’s play ground and an allotment laden with fruit trees and bushes it is a one-off luxury holiday home which Jack is now reluctantly selling.

“The house was designed with family in mind as we have a large extended family so we wanted it to be a home to entertain in and we’ve had some great parties there,” he says.

“I wanted a big space where everyone could gather without feeling they were squeezed in.

“If it rained, to me there would be nothing worse than being trapped in a small room so the house has large open plan spaces and is perfect for entertaining.

“On the mezzanine floor there’s a pool table for rainy days and we also designed a children’s play room so that the kids would have somewhere to go when the weather wasn’t so good. We also have disco lights and fog machine for parties which all the family loved.”

The house sits on a spacious roadside site at Shroove just a minute’s walk from the scenic Big White Bay beach and close to many tourist amenities in what is a beautiful part of Donegal.

The internal specification is exceptionally high including dual central heating, open plan living area with helix spiral staircase, gallery and outside there is a private fully paved rear patio and barbecue area.

The marble tiled floor and magnificent spiral staircase which rises up from the main open plan living area both make a spectacular style statement.

A full length natural stone fireplace and large floor to ceiling windows also add a touch of class to this superb space.

There are three bedrooms on the ground floor, one with a luxury en suite and walk in dressing room, as well as a family bathroom. Upstairs as well as the huge gallery entertainment area there are another three bedrooms, one with en suite shower room and a separate luxury wet room.

The kitchen is contemporary and finished with black PVC units with grey speckled worktops.

There is a circular double sink and a free standing Slabel cooker with eight-ring gas hob and four electric ovens. Glass doors open onto a rear patio with a seating area where the party can continue in fine weather as it has its own granite cooking area complete with electric supply.

The family bathroom is also modern in styling and features a decadent Jacuzzi bath with black marble surround, and a shower with glass tile partition.

Decorative wrought iron balustrades line a circular staircase which leads up to a mezzanine area creating a wow factor in the open plan lounge/kitchen/diner.

Jack has put as much attention to detail into the outdoors as he has the interior. A vegetarian, he created an abundant allotment which is planted with an array of fruit trees and bushes and which has its own greenhouse.

There is a large lawn and a separate children’s playground where a super “den” has been built on stilts.

Not only will this make a spectacular holiday home for your family but has the potential for all year round rental income.

Property of the Week: Heather’s Lodge, Shroove, Greencastle, Donegal

View this and more articles on the Belfast Telegraph.

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