On the ‘lookout’ for a home with elevated sea views?

YOU can almost sense the striving for perfection at this Schull, west Cork home-and-property mix. Set out at Cooradarrigan, on the Cork side of the seaside village, it is just a little bit inland of the coastline, within a walk of Schull itself, and its owners have built a ‘look-out’, a little, view-grabbing cabin up on an elevated ridge to grab ocean and island vistas.

The mix is on three acres of grounds, including ponds, rockery, and wending stream, and has a renovated-and-extended farmhouse main dwelling, with four bedrooms over three levels, thanks to a sloping site, along with a detached, two-bed guesthouse, just needing a kitchen to be fully independent.

Selling agent is Martin Swanton, of Ballydehob and Scull, who has marked it down in price already, since it hit the summer 2009 market, seeking €1.2m. In the event, despite all its attributes, that level was just too ambitious, and now it has been reduced to €850,0000 with a strong view to a sale: with winter closing in, visitors will have to imagine its summer glories.

The house, being sold by its Irish owners, but which has the air of one worked on by Continental Europeans, is a modern take on tradition, but upgraded. All of its four bedrooms are en-suite, for example, and the 21’ by 11’ main living room has an immense, tall, solid-fuel stove in a deep burgundy colour. The main kitchen/dining/living space is 33’ by 24’ in an L-shape, with painted units, granite tops, and high-sheeted ceilings in oak, while the dining space is extra bright, thanks to large windows, and triple, overhead, glazed panels in the sloping roof.

The open entry hall is overlooked by a balcony, and there is a ground-floor room that includes an office or study with fireplace and open-beam ceiling, cloak room and guest WC.

The 26’ by 13’ master bedroom is split-level, with wardrobes and en-suite with Jacuzzi bath in the upper portion, and with French doors off the sleeping section, opening to a balcony overlooking the pond, gardens and stream.

The main, stepped, and staggered house has oil heating, a vacuum system and broadband.

The separate, two-storey guest cottage has a living room with wood-pellet heater, utility, multi-purpose room, shower room and two bedrooms.

Auctioneer, Martin Swanton, says “it has almost everything, a magnificent property in a beautiful location.”