A very special hideaway

Tommy Barker visits a West Cork property with its own guest cottage.

A SUN room links two houses to form a sheltering courtyard at Schull’s Ancaire - a spot where it may cost €1.37 million to drop anchor.

A cluster of stone-built West Cork dwellings, the roots of the property go back to 1880, but its modern-day look and conveniences only hark back to 2000.

That’s when the current owners, a couple who have had a small business in one of the buildings, started their makeover.

Now, the object of their labours, on 1.5 acres of mature and characterful gardens, is up for sale, with Skibbereen agent Charles McCarthy, charged with finding the right buyer for the rural spot with views of Mount Gabriel and an elevated price tag.

While it doesn’t have sea views or water frontage, the owners do have a mooring at nearby Rosbrin cove, within walking distance, as is Dreenatra. In addition, Ballydehob is two miles on way, while Schull is roughly the same distance the opposite direction.

There are options to spread out across both ‘houses’ via the sun room, or to have one relatively separate to the other, either for guest or rental use.

And, in fact, the self contained guest cottage is a real West Cork phenomenon, popular because guests do tend to arrive, crash out and linger.

The main dwelling is a two-bed farm cottage, with porch, study, bathroom, sitting room kitchen with oil Stanley range, and a 30’ by 15’ sitting room/sun room with exposed stone walls and lots of windows and overhead roof windows.

The first floor has two bedrooms, one with ensuite bathroom, and both bedrooms have attractive exposed wood beams or trusses.

Linked via the sun room is a one-bed guest cottage, with decent 22’ by 13’ living room, a kitchen/dining room, utility, shower room.

The cottage also has an overhead bedroom with exposed beams, and it has access to the grounds blow via a gable door and steps ... very West Cork vernacular.

Standards of decor and finish are high, done in a luxury/rustic style, with painted kitchen units, painted ceiling wood beams, wood floors, exposed stone features and more.

Apart from the good habitable sections, the overall property mix includes a garage, barn, workshop and two stables.