A rare Bandon house and courtyard for humans and horses alike

Irish Examiner

10-05-2025

GENERATIONS of the one family, the Lees, have owned Bandon's Riverview House for the past 80 years, once part of the enormous Devonshire Estate, with a house pedigree going back to the early 1800s: it has magnificent stone courtyard buildings as old, and with a pedigree linked to generations of horses and equestrian activities enjoyed by many.
Courtyard, barn and outbuildings are a throwback to the past, and have been very well kept
Set at Mishells, on the Brinny side of Bandon and about three kilometres out of the West Cork gateway town, Riverview House last changed hands back in 1946, after much of the land associated with the Georgian era estate was hived off by the Land Commission. The house itself, and original, cobble courtyard and wonderful approach avenue, were left on 15 acres — enough for an equestrian enterprise, but not near enough for a viable farm.
It was bought by the Maxwell family, William and Rose Mary, with local and Cavan roots (via spells in India) and later was home to their daughter Honor, who married Richard (Dick ) Harte Lee. They reared their own family of three Lees here, starting an inter-generational business Lee Equestrian Equipment (LEE), breaking and training horses, for hunting and eventing.
Lee family members recall anecdotes of their grandmother, Rose Mary, riding and hunting side saddle for which she was widely noted, and going with others to Bandon on horseback, and putting their mounts on the train to take them to any hunt within reach of the West Cork rail line in the mid 1900s.
The Maxwell/Lee family's stables, boxes, and courtyard buildings were filled with the sound, smells, heat and heart of horses, and dozens of the sure-footed animals may have been here at any one time.
Although the scale of equestrian activity tailed off here 15 or 20 years ago, the myriad buildings which accommodated the horses were kept up, slate roofs maintained, the yard kept trim with its cobbles still visible under 2025 summer growth.
Where's the river?
The very original courtyard shape today still contains the rounded outline in stones of a turning circle for carriages, as well as having a tall stone block for mounting and dismounting. The sound of clattering hooves is all that's missing to bring it back to life and original purpose.
One of the paddocks behind a run of stables shows where a sand arena had been in use, while a utility/boot room off the kitchen still today has wall-mounted timber frames for holding a collection of the best leather saddles.
The very original and authentic Riverview House, grounds, and buildings come for sale this month after the passing of Honor Lee in 2024, predeceased by Dick Harte Lee in 2016, and will almost certainly be bought by another family as in thrall to country living, and lovers of all things equine: it's made for humans and horses alike.
Side aspect with sun room
It's listed with joint agents, Andy Donoghue of Hodnett Forde in Clonakilty, jointly with Maeve McCarthy of Charles P McCarthy further west in Skibbereen, and they expect both local interest and regional/national interest, as well as overseas inquiries, given the integrity of the package, plus the appeal of the price point, giving it all a €1.15 million AMV.
At just over the €1m mark, it's at the same sort of price level as modern detacheds and even new builds are currently fetching in Cork city's western suburbs and out towards Ballincollig.
Never say neigh
Riverview House is one of a tiny number of €1m+ properties for sale with a Bandon district address: Hodnett Forde have the extensively restored period home Keamagareagh House on 26 acres for sale nearby at Callatrim Bandon with a €1.95m guide, and at €2.45m Leighmoney More House, on seven acres on the River Bandon below Innishannon, near Kinsale: both have featured in these pages on launch.
Unlike those latter two upscale listings, Riverview House is in an unrestored state, minded and maintained just as necessary, with just about every original feature thankfully in place, some of it faded, but all intact. It's there to be gently nudged along with now, to guarantee its future (and more 21st century comforts), with respect and care, in next and new sensitive hands, for however many decades may lie in store for them.
The joint agents McCarthys and Hodnett Forde describe the early 1800s origins Riverview House as 'a distinguished Georgian residence of notable heritage: this elegant country home offers an increasingly rare opportunity to acquire a property of classical architectural beauty and significant potential.'
Opportunity knocks
It has over 3,750 sq ft, with three elegant reception rooms and basic kitchen off a wide and accommodating central hall inside a neo-classical fan-lit entrance with glazed side panels and fluted pilasters.
Here too is an elegant staircase with curving hardwood handrail, and a feature arched tall sash window on the stairs turn, while the first floor landing has a magnificent vaulted ceiling dropping in precise arches to original doorcases to the principal doorcases.
Vaulted landing ceiling
There are three large bedrooms, two of them double aspect and one has an en suite bathroom in what might in earlier centuries have been a nursery, plus two smaller ones, one to the front over the main door entrance with views to a large eleven acre field past mature trees and drive, and a fifth, small bedroom is next to the main, basic bathroom with cast iron bath.
Two of the bedrooms have fireplaces, as do two of the main reception rooms, one in white marble, the other black, and nearly all windows are sliding timber sashes, with a few modern replacements perhaps done a few decades ago and maybe one or two, inconsequential small pvc frames at the rear.
The main front elevation windows are small paned Georgian ones, in a 12 over eight arrangement downstairs, and eight over eight on the upper level, and many have shutters, with sections cut into the walls to the side to allow security bars be drawn across them. The same, robust and secure locking feature is also evident in a downstairs back room's door frame.
MAIN rooms downstairs have original wide doorcases, some of them roughly stripped back, indicative perhaps of the way many who may come to view will see Riverview House as a rare canvas to work with, within a half hour's drive of Cork city, international airport, and Kinsale, and as a springboard to the more rugged wilds of on-brand West Cork.
Much of the exterior is lime render dash, with some hung slate visible under sections, whilst a recent treatment of the main front and side facades has been done in lime render dash or harling, supplied by Richard Good-Stephenson of Innishannon's Cor Castle and Roundtower Lime.
In the right hands, the nature of Riverview House will dictate the route to take to get it back to appropriate finery: it may not even need a huge budget?
Among the many pluses are the rarity of West Cork Georgian homes in such a relatively untouched state (it's had a good roof kept overhead, with rainwater goods maintained,) has central heating, the most basic kitchen, and a garden room/sun room has been added on the southern side off the dining room via double doors, overlooking the approach avenue.
Riverview House is up a relatively short approach avenue lined with century old beech trees, limes, cedars, fig, camellias, and more,with bluebells now just ending their spring bursts underneath: the entrance gates are superb, original white cast iron beauties in bowed side walls, with a second 'right of way' entrance 100 metres along the round boundary to the magnificent courtyard, with stables and commodious lofted stores (with external stone step access) and arched 'car barn.'
That second access is shared with a neighbouring farmer, part of whose own stone outbuildings abut those of Riverview House (there's is no river to view!) and which most likely would have been part of the estate prior to its divide in the 1940s, a step in this home's long history, and roots back to the heady days of the Cavendish/Dukes of Devonshire family's vast Cork and Waterford estates, exceeding 60,000 acres in the mid-19th century.
VERDICT: A small but charming slice today of
rich Bandon land and estate heritage, with a solid Georgian home at its core. Its wonderful courtyard is, in so many ways,
a rival for the attractiveness
and prospects of the residence itself….horses, for courses,
indeed.