A LOT of house, a lovely setting, and more than a few internal quirks set this house at Dromreagh, Durrus, in west Cork apart from the norm.
Built back at the end of the previous decade, the 1990s, and done by a German architect as his permanent family home, this new-to-market 2010 offering called Three Gables is in some ways a house and a half.
It essentially has two wings, joined by a central conservatory, is entered via a heavily planted green avenue and an old pub door with stained glass surround, and has an all-in floor area of 3,200 sq ft. The house is on two acres of greened-in grounds and gardens, with ponds, decking, barbecue and seating areas, with an unusual small octagonal greenhouse.
In addition at this accommodating modern yet traditionally-styled home, there’s a one-bed guest cottage, and an en suite granny flat, all with separate external access.
Unusual touches in the main house include a large pizza oven, sourced from Italy, and a wall-set gents urinal.
Low-slung, single storey and slate roofed with solar panels, it was designed and built by a German architect, for whom it has been a family home, and it has a strong and warm sense of being used and enjoyed, with lots of healthy house plants, and cosy seating areas inside and outside.
It is going up for sale with Kinsale-based Nadja Franke of international agency Engle and Volkers, who guides it at €775,000 and who feels it will again be bought as a family home, for full-time or close to full-time use, and may have a buying appeal from hunters around this island, and, equally from beyond these shores.
The setting is elevated, with views out along Dunmanway Bay and the Sheeps Head, a couple of miles from Durrus and about 90 minutes from Cork city, airport and rekindled ferry links which are expected to bring an extra new decade fillip to the west Cork region from spring.
While the setting is scenic and rural, the fact Durrus is minutes away puts village services like pubs, cafés and shops to hand, with Bantry’s wider range of offerings 15 minutes away, notes Ms Franke.
Part-painted render and with some stone facades, Three Gables has a distinctive entry point with old salvaged red bar door under a glazed screen and with some semi-tropical planting in abundance, and the green-fingered theme continues in the central pitch-roofed conservatory, used as dining and breakfast areas (the pizza oven is here too), with heavy curtains acting as door and draught screens.
Off to the right is a large master bedroom with en suite bathroom with bath and glass ceiling flooding the place with light and allowing star-gazing by night, and this side also has service/utility rooms and a very purposeful, well-fitted kitchen with island.
The house’s second wing has a large living room with simple, unfussy open fireplace and high ceilings, two bedrooms and a bathroom with corner Jacuzzi bath: all bathrooms are distinguished by a high standard of wall-hung sanitary ware, note the agents, who add that most rooms have terrace doors to the range of garden and decking/seating areas "which create a Mediterranean touch."
A side portion of the house has a guest cottage with open plan living room/kitchen/dining, shower room and beamed ceiling bedroom, and there’s also an en suite granny flat.
The two acres of grounds are private, with secure gates, several natural rocky outcrops and two ponds or pools are appreciated by humans and fauna alike.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
This appeared in the printed version of the Irish Examiner Saturday, January 09, 2010
