Ballydehob, West Cork €340,000

Size: Sq m 93 (1,000 sq ft)

Tree House is a modern two-bed home that retains its rustic appeal. Tommy Barker

Halfway between Ballydehob and Schull, this tastefully adapted home is a haven of tranquility, writes Tommy Barker

He’s fought huge waves swimming some of the toughest seas in the world, but record breaker Steve Redmond couldn’t fight back the tears as he arrived home in Cork to a hero’s welcome.

Stylish finish puts West Cork property above the average, writes Rose Martin

We scan a selection of starter homes from around the country

YOU can sense, anticipate, or at the very least hope for warm summer days to come at this Schull, west Cork home — it has a garden feature set up for glorious weather days.

FUEL is an anagram of flue — and the house Chimneys is sorted on both scores. Called after the number of chimneys in this updated traditional west Cork residence, it is quite a spread of place to call home, as it hits the early 2011 property market.

HOUSES at the Moorings, in Schull, west Cork, are considered among the most-prized and pricey addresses in Schull – and most of the eight have been extended since they were built.

BUOYS were toys for the late, west Cork farmer, Tom Sheppard, whose retirement hobby was collecting marine memorabilia — such as a 28’ long navigation marker buoy, one of several heavy buoys which graced the front gates and gardens of his Colla Road home.

DONE up by a brother and sister team as a guest accommodation venture, Standing Stone is a waterfront Schull home with a shingle beach, and a range of possible future uses.

A VERY realistic asking price is €295,000 is being asked for a detached bungalow at Aghadown, between Skibbereen and Ballydehob in west Cork.

YOU can almost sense the striving for perfection at this Schull, west Cork home-and-property mix. Set out at Cooradarrigan, on the Cork side of the seaside village, it is just a little bit inland of the coastline, within a walk of Schull itself, and its owners have built a ‘look-out’, a little, view-grabbing cabin up on an elevated ridge to grab ocean and island vistas.

Tommy Barker says a holiday haven near Schull is a real gem

THE West Cork market is about to come out of its seasonal slumbers, and auctioneer Martin Swanton of Ballydehob believes that the auguries are good as he brings a €1.1 million Ballydehob offering to market.

FORGET about keeping the wolf from the door - it will cost you close on €600,000 to get comfortably ensconced at Wolf Hill on Durrus' Mine Road.

ALL a boating enthusiast could want, says the selling agent of this waterfront Skibbereen home with views across Roaringwater Bay to Jeremy Irons Giant Peachey castle at Kilcoe.

Rose Martin is impressed by a stylish old farmhouse in West Cork

THE price of a dormer-type home with views out over Crew Bay in West Cork has dipped to come in line with the cooler winter market for mid and higher priced homes.

SHOPPING for a retirement home or dreaming of downsizing to West Cork? Have a lot of criteria to fill?

AT THE risk of national stereotypes, when you hear that a house is both designed and lived in by a Swiss architect, you form a certain impression of style and quality — and this Dromreagh Durrus home does nothing to dispel that line of thought.

THE Island House, Toormore, is being renovated, but joint agents Stephen O'Keefe of James Lyons O'Keefe and Martin Swanton of Keane Mahony Smith are already marketing this classic three bedroom West Cork farmhouse.