Full-time residence, holiday home or B&B: the choice is yours

EASED out of church hands in the 1990s, the Old Presbytery is a Dingle peninsula delight.

Now a reworked private home with a full and suitably sensitive renovation behind it, the large residence is on 1.75 acres in one of the country's acknowledged beauty spots, with valley views of patchworks of fields.

For the scenery philistines, it is also next to the Castlegregory Golf and Fishing Club.

Location is mid-way between Tralee and Dingle, above the Castlegregory road, elevated with views for miles over Fermoyle strand, Stradbally beach, wood-fringed Lough Gill and Mount Brandon.

The occupants for the past decade and a half have been Austrian, flying over frequently from the Continent to Kerry airport to visit, but now they are stepping back from the responsibility of keeping a large house and grounds from a distance.

It hits the market with a €635,000 price guide with joint agents Eddie Barrett of North's in Tralee, and Ganly Walter in Dublin.

"It's not much more than the price of a half decent Dublin semi-d," observes Eddie Barrett, who says the vendors went to painstaking ends to refurbish this house in character, retaining all of the period features.

"It has a lovely original feel. They put everything back as it should be," he says, and about the only change with a sunny overseas feel is the sheltered courtyard/barbecue area they created, complete with flagstone floor, planters and half door.

He reckons it will attract interest now as much as a full-time residence as a holiday home, and given its size it might well have B&B potential as well.

The dwelling was built in different periods, ranging from the 1820s up to the early 1900s, and includes a 1,000 sq ft annexe behind with conversion potential.

As it stands, the Old Presbytery has a porch, hall, dining room, living room, breakfast room, a kitchen with limed oak units, granite worktops and a Belfast sink, utility plus laundry, along with five bedrooms, bathroom with cast-iron bath, and a separate WC.

Most of the rooms, including the bedrooms, have feature antique/ original fireplaces, and the house has gas central heating and double glazing.