Chi-chi cottage in the cliff

CAROL VORDERMAN and her journalist partner Des Kelly just might show whoever buys 1 Cliff Cottages what can be done in such a Glandore setting — or else the new occupants at no 1 might just look next door to no 2 for inspiration.

The semi-detached cottage is spectacularly sited, burrowed into a stone cliff face at road level and beneath it in the chi-chi West Cork coastal village.

Just up the street, the detached house Bar na Don had a similar setting, and was booted from humble bungalow to dramatic Des Res by previous owner Martin Dooney, who sold last winter to Vorderman and Kelly for a sum said to be around 1 million.

In comparison, 1 Cliff Cottages is positively at the affordable end of the scale even if the €320,000 quoted by Henry O'Leary Property Partners seems as steep as the cliff for such a compact-looking cottage.

The key is location, and the setting is superb. Entry at street level has a hall, two bedrooms and a bathroom, while below, out of sight (except from the sea) is the lower level with living room with amazing views a neat kitchen/diner and a balcony.

In a development unlikely to be fully matched in a super-strict planning environment, the neighbours at no 2 have gone up into the attic and extended out at the lower level with a large terrace over a store which then has its own steps down to the shoreline and a private pier.