Surely Ireland’s most expensive house (in term of square footage) sold at Fonsie Mealy’s Summer Fine Art Sale in Castlecomer today.

Lot.481. “The Travelling Baby House” – a two room, mahogany children’s toy – with an estimate of €3,000/4,000 was knocked down for a staggering €48,000!

The Travelling Baby House. A fine and extremely rare small mahogany two room house of the type mentioned in Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels,” English, circa 1810.The Exterior:Four steps lead to the wooden front door with its moulded architrave and fanlight. The five glazed arched windows are painted on the reverse with glazing bars and green curtains, and there are two inlaid lozenges of mother-of-pearl. The house is outlined with a moulded border, has two spherical brass finials, brass lion mask ring handles and a brass carrying handle on the roof. The front is hinged at one side and secured by two catches.The Interior:There are two rooms, one above the other, each with dark green painted walls, wooden dado and white painted fire surrounds. Dimensions:Overall: 44cms h x 26cms w x 27cms deep (17 1/2″ x 10 1/4″ x 10 3/4″.Rooms: 15cms x 24cms x 20.5cms (5 7/8″ x 9 1/2″ x 8″. (1)Provenance: From the Vivien Greene Collection. Purchased at Bonham’s Sale, December, 1998.The proceeds from the sale of this lot are being distributed to various Children’s charities. MEALY’S CATALOGUE.

The full results of the sale which netted in excess of €420,000 can be found here: Mealy’s Summer Sale