Swiss style puts in a West Cork appearance

AT THE risk of national stereotypes, when you hear that a house is both designed and lived in by a Swiss architect, you form a certain impression of style and quality — and this Dromreagh Durrus home does nothing to dispel that line of thought.

It was built by a couple of Swiss nationals who first retired to Spain, grew bored of the sunny lifestyle there and when they fell across the rugged beauty of the South West Irish coast, they swapped the Costas for the hills over Dunmanus Bay.

Despite their international background, the house they built here a mile uphill from Durrus is thoroughly Irish in external appearance.

It is stone-faced all around and the vernacular materials theme continues with slate up on top of this sectioned roof-line which breaks up its 2,600 sq ft bulk.

Estate agent Martin Swanton of Ballydehob says the place, on 1.8 acres, is fairly priced, as in priced for a realistic sale at €65,000. The West Cork market is often prone to over-priced properties being put up for sale at wildly aspirational levels, with vendors prepared to sit and wait for a lucky strike, but this isn't one of those, he insists.

This Dromreagh home, near the Three Gables restaurant and Blair's Cove, is L-shaped and single storey, and its inside gives clues of thoughtful design.

Simple things like putting the washing machine and drier up on plinths so you don't have to bend down to them with heavy laundry, are examples, and the utility room possibly has more storage than the average home.

And that's before you get to the garage, finished to habitable levels, with heating, an enthusiast's level of provision for DIYers with work benches, automatic doors and an attic level for even more storage.

Then there's the house: pride of place must be the dining area, a very large room with granite floor, an open beamed ceiling and, at the risk of contradiction, a built-in bay window, where the roof line is extended a couple of extra feet with overhead glazing for a light-filled spot clearly not every West Cork day has sunshine levels to match their old Spanish home.

Lots of the house has granite flooring, it features in the hall/porch, in the kitchen which also has granite worktops, and light painted units with lots of built-ins.

The main living room, 26' by 20', has a warmer maple floor, plus a wood-clad slightly vaulted ceiling, and the room has a broad stone-finished chimney which acts as a heat store in itself after the last embers have gone out.

Even more cosiness is given thanks to the extensive walls of books, on teak shelves. From this room, French doors open to the landscaped patio area, edged in a low natural stone wall, and the views go right out along Dunmanus Bay.

Sleeping quarters are confined to three rooms, and the vendors have used one as an office. Both other bedrooms have an en suite, and one en suite has a corner bath, shower, bidet and extensive tiling.

According to Martin Swanton, the level of finish and attention to detail is impressive, and the first few viewings have had a hugely favourable response.

"They made models of the house and all the rooms before building it and worked out exactly where everything was to go.

"It really is an exceptional home," he comments before adding that the same architect has finished work on another larger home, on an even better site, which will be coming up for sale shortly with a higher €950,000 price guide.

And that's not a bit Irish, he reckons, but very, very Swiss.