Upgraded Bandon period home, stone outbuildings, land and lodge up for grabs

Owners of period home near Bandon on 27 acres have spent years doing up the property, including a bonus three-bed lodge, and considerable outbuildings

Keamagaragh House near Bandon has a lodge, 27 acres, stone outbuildings and refurbished period family home. Trevor O'Sullivan of Lisney Sotheby's International Realty guides at €1.6 million

Bandon, Cork
€1.6 million
Size	380 sq m (4,070 sq ft)
Bedrooms	5 + 2
Bathrooms	4
BER	B3

THE owners of Bandon’s Keamagaragh House took the long-view when they bought it in 1990: they knew the house with Georgian roots needed work, and lots of it, along with its land and its venerable old stone outbuildings, and they took it all on in stages.

Make a grand entrance: 

In fact, they were living here for years before they got around to actually bedding down in the house’s main bedrooms, as their budget had only allowed them do the ground floor, then the rooms up top under the redone roof.

The family was half reared before they made the move to their house’s mid-level, now home to five bedrooms, two of which are double aspect and two which have en suites, and main bathrooms.

Pristine inside

Left up top today are two characterful further bedrooms, also en suite, via a gleaming, polished hardwood open-tread staircase — they hardly get a mention in the sales description, given there is so much more here on offer.

Listed with agent Trevor O’Sullivan, of Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty, Keamagaragh House is a fully modernised, Georgian-era home of over 4,000 sq ft, with a surprising B3 BER, over three floors, on almost 27 acres of land by a stream just on the outskirts of Bandon.

There had been an old flax mill and flax fields here in previous centuries, and also entirely redolent of Keamagaragh’s earlier days are the collection of 19th-century stone outbuildings, in a long cluster, several of them lofted, others with old stables outlined, all of them securely roofed and weather proofed, ready for repurposing.

The entire estate is guided at €1.6million, with the bulk of the value tied up in the quality of the mix: walk-in order sizeable house, privately set, plus equally immaculately restored three-bed lodge, on good land, in a prosperous farming area (a 91-acre land holding with old house and just across the road recently went ‘sale agreed’ at c €22,500 an acre, with derelict house and run-down buildings).

Location is just off the back/north/Macroom road into the West Cork town of Bandon, within a walk of Kilbrogan, Bandon Coop’s retail and garden centre, as well as of ABP Food Group, a sizeable Bandon/West Cork agri-food employer sometimes visited by ABP’s top brass by helicopter.

For those who use the route out from Halfway/Crossbarry/Brinny to approach Bandon from the north, the setting will seem familiar too: this house and holding is just off the road (it’s the R589) with about a half a dozen or so other homes in a loop road between active farm fields.

The family here were less than traditional farmers, but had a love of land (and a project), and had backgrounds and day jobs in retail and in education when they took on this property.

Now that they are finally ready to trade down, it seems they cut their cloth to their measure, without cutting corners, having to do major work (the Christmas Eve storms of 1997 wreaked havoc to the house’s roof) to the main house in particular, in phases.

Along the way and working with a local stone mason, they put in work on walls, the curving approach avenue inside a sliding electric gate, they paved terraces, created a double garage (home office upgrade, anyone?), and secured the very extensive stone outbuildings.

They also did the detached three-bed lodge, now an independent house which has been rented out in the recent past, and it has rental income potential for the property’s next owners if they don’t have an extended family use for it.

The main, five-bay house and lofted buildings, sort of set diagonally across the 26.7-acre land block from the lodge, could fool some into thinking it’s a new/modern build, given its crisp external render with contrasting corner quoins, pvc ‘Georgian-style’ double glazing throughout, plus similar glazing carried over into the slate-roofed front porch and side sun room, and there’s oil central heating and pretty assured creature comfort given it scores a B3 BER.

Accommodation is over three levels

Rooms inside are on a simple plan. One per corner, most of them double aspect, with the front living room (with insert electric fire in a white marble surround) on the left, plus the kitchen behind it, each opening to a glazed sun room with solid, curved roof on the side gable.

Across the hall is a formal dining room, with dark, original period stone fireplace, and behind is a family room with stove and external access to a parking area by the well-conserved stone outbuildings.

Main rooms inside have coved ceilings, with some ceiling roses and the central hall is in two sections, with internal arches, the wider one in varnished hardwood with six panes fanning out above the door.

Three-bed lodge is in top order too

Also in gleaming hardwood is the carpeted stairs’ newels and spindles, repositioned after an internal reordering to sit in the middle of the hall’s far end, with a section then off the return to the first floor to the right, and on up to the second floor (the family’s first sleeping quarters!) to the right: the bifurcated split gives an unusual feel to the home’s internal levels.

Overall condition is immaculate – the vendors are clearly house proud – and the net effect of having so much work down might be that there is very little ‘patina’ of original finishes left in the actual house, inside and outside, so refinished is it.

That will be seen as a positive to those who don’t want to take on a project, and who want a ready-made family home with all of the trimmings.

For those who do want a project, there’s always the huge scope in the extensive stone buildings, a mix of single and double-storey lofted beauties, which could be repurposed for business, pleasure, games, guests or more.

And, given this is Bandon, there’ll surely be those into country pursuits and keeping horses, and the land’s two main divisions will be great for grazing, charging about, hobby farming, leasing out for income or other uses, while making decent, functioning stables

will be an easy task given the highly adaptable venerable structure.

Might others have back-yard business uses for the same buildings? Food? Furniture making? Craft? Storage? All options are here.

VERDICT: A period home that feels close to new.