Upper-end coastal home

RECKONED to be among the best house offerings in Baltimore, west Cork, in recent years, is this stone-faced, architect-designed, 3,400 sq ft home – and it would want to be good, with a price pitched in ‘excess’ of € 900,000.

The air is thin right now for second and holiday homes – the banks are lending little to this sector – and there’s plenty on offer, at readjusted prices.

A recent, post-auction sale in Schull has buoyed hopes for the mid- and upper-end of the coastal homes market: a waterside, 1970s bungalow on a 0.4-acre site sold in private negotiations via joint agents, James Lyons O’Keeffe and Downing Commercial, following an auction withdrawal (at €485,000). It is understood to have made in the mid-€500,000s. That was down from a reserve in the upper €600,000s, and the vendors had paid more than €1m for it (most likely for development purposes) in 2006.

This new Baltimore offering, with elevated harbour views, is a finished package: “It’s only recently built, has a top-notch finish – it’s probably the best house to come onto the market in Baltimore in years,” says Maeve McCarthy, of Charles P McCarthy, in Skibbereen.

The site is about one third of an acre, the four-bedroomed, double en-suite house has 3,430 sq ft and there’s also a detached garage with kitchenette and WC, separately heated, while the house has zone heating and power showers. All rooms are wired for internet and satellite TV. The house has stone-faced front and side walls, a good kitchen, sun room, two other reception rooms, high-ceilinged galleried hallway, with finishes including Kahrs timber and stone floors, oak staircase, granite kitchen worktops, and, outside, electric access gates.