Cottage has the cute factor

Rose Martin finds a cottage near Skibbereen on market for €165,000

IT wouldn’t do to have a row with your partner in Kilroy’s Cottage — there are few places, apart from the polytunnel, to sulk at leisure.

This cute cottage is three miles north of Skibbereen and it’s seen floods of interest in its short time on the market.

And the reason is not just the splendid west Cork isolation, but also the price — the one-bed retreat is on the market at €165,000 through Erin McCarthy of Pat Maguire Properties.

Set at the end of a country lane, the house is only 10 minutes from town, but it could be anywhere, such is its privacy and seclusion.

The owners used the less-is-more philosophy when converting this famine farmhouse.

They replaced the old corrugated iron roof with a new corrugated iron roof and added a lean-to sunroom to the front.

Inside, the ceiling is insulated and sheeted, (drumming of rain drops while it can be attractive, is also migraine-inducing under a tin roof) and the open ground floor is divided into two spaces.

There’s a slinky modern kitchen at one end, in a gentle green, with a large living space at the other, heated by a stove.

The ‘mezzanine’ as it’s called in the brochure is a sleeping loft with room just for two, (hence the abject failure of any picture-no-sound policy), and a futon in the sunroom/porch works as a put-me-up deterrent to any long stay guests.

However, that’s a very negative skew on what is a tranquil, rural half acre idyll.

The fact that it’s north of Skibb explains the price differential — closer to the coast, this property would be double the asking price.

The grounds are laid out au natural, but with cleverly conceived herbaceous borders and a fruit and vegetable patch.

This bounds the polytunnel which, despite the poor summer, is producing tomatoes and courgettes.

“It has great character, with lots of little windows but its very bright because of the Veluxes,” says Erin McCarthy. It’s really a lifestyle buy and what’s there has been maximised — it’s the cutest thing you’ll ever see.”

Kilroy’s Cottage also comes with an outhouse which could be extended. It makes the ideal getaway, love nest, or even, starter home.