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.