The mix does the trick on nine acres by Blackwater

LISMORE estate agent, actor and arts buff Ken Madden has another few strings to his bow — a cracking great local property on nine acres by the River Blackwater, as well as a property market-related book just out.

West-Waterford based Mr Madden has collaborated with former well-known restaurateur and one-time hotelier Ken Buggy, who himself has a hidden talent as a cartoonist just exposed. Messers Madden and Buggy, have the book Property, 100 Best Ways to Buy and Sell just published this week. It has a laugh on every page, essential light relief for these NAMARAMA days. Likely to have an international appeal (think the horse and boat cartoonist Thelwell) it is one of a series produced by Book Republic, see www.100bestways.com

That’s for light relief, but a serious offering via Ken Madden is the simply-titled Riverview, a property mix with a five bed house, an old cottage, productive gardens, the possibility of another house site and eight acres of pasture at Ballyduff Upper.

About a 30 mile drive from Cork, or 45 miles from Waterford city, this county border offering is a pristine mix, with land for a pony or horse a real bonus.

Set about a mile from Ballyduff, the land slopes northwards toward the Blackwater, but is divided from it by a road and fields.

The main house is a neat, c1,150 sq ft home with conservatory, main living room, kitchen dining etc, and five bedrooms as well, while the separate cottage is not currently habitable, but is eminently do-uppable and can be hived off from the main residence, says Madden.

He seeks €700,000, all-in, and the immediate gardens are manicured, and productive with vegetable beds, and there’s a shed (used as a play house for children, a greenhouse, and seated areas to admire the views and planting.