Be a country gent for €250,000

YOU wouldn’t have had the chance to buy/afford a package like this in the past decade or so, says the selling agent of this west Cork country-home package, on five acres of land, north of Clonakilty.

Newly for sale is this traditional-style, two-storey, four-bed farmhouse, at Caherkirky, near Rossmore — home of the annual Rossmore drama festival.

The drama of affording a prospect like this has reached a wider audience — a ‘cheaper seats’ asking price of €250,000 is affixed to this chance to buy into the country lifestyle, in a location that sounds like a translation from the Irish for Cork city, Cathair Chorcai.

Auctioneer Henry O’Leary is selling the pink-faced home, with stable-potential stone outbuildings, barn, and five acres divided up into five, small fields.

It is ideal for someone looking to do a bit of self-sufficiency, and there’s also scope for a couple of productive pigs, cows or sheep, or ponies and horses.

And, in fact, the economic downturn has meant horses are as hard to sell/as easy to buy as houses, so there really is the chance to buy one of these original ‘ride on mowers’ for a bargain price.

This house needs renovation, but it has had some work done, it has central heating installed (but needs insulation to make it cost-efficient and cosy) and a slate-roofed sun-room/porch was added on some years ago, and before that a kitchen wing was added, some decades ago, to the original, single-width (12’ wide) stone dwelling.

Upstairs, that narrow width means some compromises, with the main bathroom currently over the kitchen, reached via not just one, but through two connecting bedrooms.

So, time to upgrade the bathroom tally — or to bring back the commode.