Humble past eclipsed by elegant modern extension

GET in the gate and up to the front door, and you’ll be hooked — so hopes estate agent Victoria Murphy of Hill View, a coastal region Kilbrittain home west of Cork city.

She is selling a four-bed detached home, extended out of an earlier 1940s cottage, but its humble past is behind it.

It has 2,000 sq ft of elegant, understated space with good finishes and workmanship, she says of the €685,000 property, which is open to offers for a speedy sale.

It has a large ground-floor double bedroom with a fireplace, three first-floor bedrooms, and two bathrooms, with a large guest loo at ground level.

The kitchen has oak units and French doors to a deck, and there a good-sized dining room. The large, bright sitting room also has French doors which lead onto the hall and staircase, and a real feature is the brick hearth, a bit like a scaled-down Inglenook, with a solid fuel stove fitted into it.

A lean-to sun-room, with solid roof, runs along this living room.

The mature-boundary grounds include drive, orchard, patio and decking, as well as a detached garage. A new biocycle has been fitted, windows are double-glazed and there is oil central heating.