Here’s your chance to rub shoulders with the A-list

HUGH Grant, Liz Hurley, Michael Stipe of REM and a host of other musical and entertainment world celebrities have stayed on the quiet at this hideaway and modest Skibbereen West Cork farmhouse, according to local legend.

However, the man who is now selling the house steadfastly refuses to confirm any of the local rumours about his guests.

Word of mouth seems to have done the trick in terms of finding a golden circle of occupants for this Church Cross/Turk Head home, which has views to Baltimore and its harbour Beacon.

The selling factor here for those who have stayed here, unknown to the wider world, is the privacy factor the house is reached up a long sheltered drive, about a quarter of a mile long.

The house itself is on 2.5 acres of land with very old stone outbuildings, some of which were possibly the original homestead here, while the present house dates back only to about the early 1900s, possibly 1930. The grounds include a small orchard, paddocks and a 600 sq ft pre-famine stone building with conversion potential.

Estate agent Aidan Murphy, who has recently set up his own West Cork estate agency called Town and Country Auctioneers, gives a €295,000 price guide for the stone-built home. It has a porch entrance, hall, two reception rooms in traditional style with open fireplaces and wood panelled ceilings, four bedrooms, all with wood panel ceilings, and a first floor bathroom.

Despite the allure of so many superbly converted West Cork farmhouses where you might expect the rich and famous to flock to, this house isn't in that decorative and finish category (yet), it is a simple and honest home on the Turk Head Peninsula, with views, privacy and a long line of interesting and appreciative visitors.