Down to earth couple dig deep for dream home

Tommy Barker visits the Peterse family and their unique eco-friendly house in West Cork.

DUTCH couple Ineke and Theo Peterse ‘did’ the West Cork farmhouse conversion thing a quarter of a century ago. Two years ago, they sold the farmhouse, An Cleite Ban, and decided to dig deep for their next Irish house adventure - they went underground.

Well, not quite so much underground, more earth-sheltered, positioning their new home in a choice part of the 31 acres of land they retained near Bantry where they have run a small organic farm for a number of years .