Smart home in the heart of the Lee Valley

YOU can see the dam, but not the reservoir, at Drom Siobhra, an architect-owned and re-worked home in Cork’s Lee Valley.

The smart 3,000 sq ft home, along with guest annexe, is on an acre of terraced and lawned grounds with stream near Inniscarra, upriver of Cork city.

The Curraleigh Inniscarra setting, in a tightly controlled and zoned area, will have an appeal to the masses who want to flee the city, but not go too far - and hence its €725,000 price guide quoted by Mark Kelly of Hamilton Osborne King.

Drom Siobhra is a reworked former farmhouse, with four to five bedrooms with a specification steadily upgraded over a number of years by the owner, a Dutch architect who bought it in the late 1990s.

The three reception rooms all have fireplaces and include a drawing room with bay window, dining room also with similar floor in oak, and a family room.

The kitchen has oak units, granite tops, both this room and the family room have beamed ceilings, and Bosch appliances are integrated and included in the sale. A utility, back hall and guest loo take up further ground floor duties. Bathrooms have been given a contemporary ‘designer’ twist, with wall-hung unit and good brand names featuring in taps and sanitary ware.

The master bedroom is en suite, there are four other bedrooms, main bathroom with good traditional feel and specification, and the three-year old detached guest cottage/annexe has almost 300 sq ft of largely open-plan space. The property includes a detached sun room with cedar frames, cedar decking and sandstone patios, barbecue area and an outdoor hot-tub with a solid fuel burner as its heating source.