Peninsula home adds up to much more than the sum of its parts

DIRECT access to the sea always carries a bit of cachet and marketability.

An extreme case might be the moves by one Colla Road, Schull, house owner, to link his west Cork home to the oceans.

A wealthy individual with the champagne surname of Bollinger also has a house that aspires to the bubbly lifestyle: William Bollinger has built one of west Cork's most imposing piles on the Colla Road but on the inland side.

However, as he also owns a strip of land across the road, he sought planning permission just before Christmas for a pedestrian underpass, under the Colla Road, and wants to place a boathouse here on the water's edge as well as 'recontouring' the site. His plans also include a tennis court to complete the lavish mix.

Meanwhile, a plot which offers a more down-home approach to the same sort of outdoor attractions is on the market at Gortalassa, near Bantry.

Out on the Sheep's Head peninsula, this is a four-acre plot with an unused old-style two-storey farmhouse.

A tip of the land touches the water's edge, just over the public roadway on the Goat's Path, and a stream also flows through the land into Bantry Bay, and in winter it forms small waterfalls for added bliss.

There are Beara Bay and peninsula views, but as the house is in a sheltered dip, the best of the water views are from the upper level, says Conor Power of Harrington Estates in Bantry, who expects it to be a full-time home possibly a retirement property for the actively retired or relocated.

He seeks over €300,000 for this property, which has had plans approved for extension and changes to the house to bring it up to a full 2,000 sq ft of living space.

Mr Power says the property "more than adds up to the sum of its parts, and the overall effect is heart-warmingly impressive" his eulogies extend far beyond the usual auctioneering cliches of 'potential'.

There are bathing spots nearby, Gerahies pier is a kilometre away, and Bantry is eight kilometres along the coastline.