Georgian terrace with some surprises behind the hall door

THERE’S a whole lot more than first meets the eye at this lime-dashed west Cork village home. Step in the front door of this street side, low-key Georgian restoration and its interiors whisk along a century or two in terms of internal design, furnishings and comfort. Location is in the architectural gem of a village that is Castletownshend, and this new market arrival (it graced our front page last week, but needs this interior spread to show what the mix really has to offer) it going to appeal to a mobile set.

Coastal Castletownshend already has unique enough charms to encourage relocation thoughts on a whim — that’s how many of its inhabitants ended up here anyway. Throw in a house as good as this, and really, those fortunate persons left with a few quid and needing a quality home in the area could be happily ensconced in jig-time.

Good architecture, good taste, and a preparedness to spend well over the average on renovation, conservation, and extension costs see this four-bed 2,200 sq ft townhouse fairly comfortably carrying its €800,000 asking price via Maeve McCarthy of Charles P McCarthy in nearby Skibbereen.

Its owners bought it from a local and neighbouring family back in 2004, and drafted in the services of John Hegarty of Fourem Conservation architects who grafted on a contemporary-styled single-storey extension, extensively glazed and wood clad, to the rear.

It’s a place of contrasts, from the new sash windows and shutters to the front, through to the all-glass-wall behind, and light gets to bounce around through use of large sections of wall-mounted mirrors in strategic settings. The stairs are in oak, the kitchen is a bespoke affair with painted wood units, hardwood tops, carbon fibre handles, metro-style splashback tiling, and there’s a Belfast sink, and an oil-fired Rayburn. Other reception areas such as the entry hall/reception and sitting room have solid fuel Stovax stoves for feature heating with visual oomph. Other ground floor rooms include a pantry, utility and walk-in airing cupboard, and pretty much all of the ground floor is done with Valentia slate for visual continuity. The family room, in the zinc-roofed extension, is 20’ by 14’, with a large central pane of glass and then with side opening doors to the stone terrace. Gardens beyond are fully planted, tiered and stone-walled with some feature planting, a kitchen garden and shaded on the perimeter by old trees. The finished home has four bedrooms and two bathrooms, to a high spec, a pressurised heating and hot water system, heat recovery/ventilation, solar panels and oil central heating, broadband. Estate agent Maeve McCarthy says this main street village house will have strong appeal to the right buyer, irrespective of the current state of the market. “Castletownshend has always attracted the British market and I think this property would be no exception, even considering the weak pound,” she says. “However, I would envisage the core market coming from either Dublin or Cork, either taking the opportunity for a lifestyle change and moving to west Cork or as a holiday home with a view to something more permanent in the future.”