Retreat to the country for luxury and innovation

LET there be light: the couple who renovated this west Cork farmhouse bathed it in light, beaming direct rays from the skies into their heart of a kitchen, while cocooning much of the rest of the home in warming insulation. And, they did every inch of it with a natural flair.

Located by the side of a woodland boundary stream, at Brade, near Union Hall, Leap and off the Skibbereen road, this extended farmhouse is very much a retreat in its own right, although coincidentally, is it also located in the country estate-like grounds of a religious retreat centre.

Much of the surrounding land here at Myross Wood Retreat Centre is owned by the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, who had bought the 18th century water-fronting home in 1946.