Re: Re: Decommissioned Farmhouse?
Your situation is not dissimilar to many others, where a new house has been
built with the planners’ proviso that the old house (sometimes also “condemned” for
ease of obtaining the permission for the new house) not be used as a dwelling again.
Lately, I saw such an old ruin on about half an acre and about 30 yds north of the new
one 😡 actually for sale at €200,000 with the implied suggestion that PP would be
no bother . . .
Incredibly, PP was restored to the old house. Reading the planning file, the architect
representing the present owner (and son of its original & now dceased owner) said that
the derelict house was part of an existing rural cluster and was well shrouded by its
surrounding trees.
But to your situation:-
You have one trump, at least, in that you are the son of the farm owner.
This – notwithstanding your having another off-farm job – will allow you to claim to be
a part-time farmer on your parents’ farm.
This makes it very important to be close to the work, particularly if you have cows
calving or sows having banbhs. Obviously, it allows you to connect TV cameras in the byres
to a monitor in your bedroom — saving you the bother of dressing and going out numerous
times during those nights when an animal is close to her time.
Clearly, there are other non-architectural points that ought count in your favour too.
For example, it is always desirable that parents have one of their family living close to
them as they advance in years.
And you are by now an established member of that townland community.
But getting this permission is still not going to be a job that you can do yourself.
And, no matter how much in love with the old house you are, be under no illusion about
trying to make it into a livable home.
It would really have helped had you sketched up the situation so that better judgements
could have been made by the architects here on the forum.
I’m assuming that the old house is ~ 20′ on the gable width and one room deep.
You must realise that between the need for structural integrity, weathering protection and
proper insulation it may well be easier/cheaper/offer more internal design options to knock
the old structure and rebuild using a vernacular form.
But what you really need here is a capable architect, one who has a name for covering all
the possible planners’ objections.
Hope it goes well for you.
