A site for sore eyes at Oysterhaven

SOMETIMES the best goods come in small boxes. But when considering this chalet — or shack, depending on your disposition — at Kinure, Oysterhaven, the prospective buyer might be wise to think outside the box.

Estate agents Dennehy Auctioneers are selling this tiny 380 sq ft dwelling at chic Oysterhaven, a creek or two up from Kinsale along the south coast. They say diplomatically that it is "in need of modernisation or alternatively demolition."

The area and location are the selling points, not the house. The site is in a scenic waterside spot, almost at the the end of the road at Oysterhaven beyond the slip and old coastguard station, and half a mile beyond the popular outdoor pursuits and water sports centre.

Half-an- hour's drive from Cork city, the chalet has a price guide of €200,000, which, a few years ago might have been taken as a misprint. Now, it merely reflects the value of a seaside site with a view that has planning, granted in 2003, for demolition and replacement with a 900 sq ft new build.

Site size is correspondingly small, calculated at about one-thirteenth of an acre that's 3,000 sq ft, by the way and many of today's homeowners wouldn't bat an eyelid at building a home of this size.

The planning granted here is for a simple dormer, with kitchen/living room on the first floor with central spiral staircase, and three compact bedrooms and bathroom plus WC at ground level.

In contrast, the existing dwelling has a lean-to with outside loo.