A five-bed farmhouse on three acres near Cork coast

SITES like the this Adamstown, Castletownshend, west Cork farmhouse can’t be rushed: they take time, and nature, to fashion — instant garden makeovers be damned.

This five-bedroom farmhouse-property is selling for €390,0000 and promises traditional county living and creature comforts, thanks to the extension and low-key upgrading.

And, you know, there’s a bit of respect for the past, when even the selling brochure uses the word ‘scullery’ — the original wet-room, surely, and a word that seems to go hand in hand with ‘chores’ — ‘if not ‘skivvy.’

Extended out to the back, this place, now, is a fairly large, L-shaped five-bed home, with several rooms opening to the recently fashioned, and paved sunny courtyard. Even that aforementioned scullery has courtyard access, possibly for taking out the laundry, though those new-fangled washing machines and dryer can ease the drudgery if one so wishes.

Auctioneer Charles P McCarthy, in Skibeereen (10 minutes drive away), says this Adamstown offering is three miles inland from the coastal gem village of Castletownshend, and has been “restored and extended to a very high standard, while in keeping with its farmhouse charm and tradition.”

Entered from the courtyard section, too, is the house’s 20’ by 7’ wide entry hall, in the original house portion, with slate floor, stone walls and open-tread stairs. Also ‘old worlde’ is the carpeted, good-sized sitting room with open, stone fireplace, with a solid-fuel stove inset for heat efficiency, and an old fire crane kept as a memento. A studio, and a lean-to conservatory with Veluxes, add to the accommodation.

Linked by an arch are the kitchen and the dining room, the former overlooking the courtyard, the latter the gardens. The scullery is a decent-sized space, and most of the five bedrooms have built-ins, and a few have wood-panelled ceilings.

There’s a main bathroom with bath and shower, and a separate shower room.

The three acres of grounds include natural lawns, paddocks, shelter belts of hedging and mature trees, while the back of the property has a series of stone outbuildings, with sloping roofs, used as stores, wood shed, garage etc.