With beaches close to hand Áit mo Chroí could easily steal your heart

Tommy Barker uncovers a simple house, on a half acre open site, with sea views.

AT least two attractive beaches are close to hand to Áit mo Chroí, near east Cork’s Cloyne and Churchtown south at Ballycroneen West.

The simple house, on a half acre open site, has sea views, and the scent of salt in the air, not much more than half an hour’s commute from Cork city.

The property, owned by a British couple and with lots of high-ceilinged space within, also has planning permission in place for an extension, to give two more en suite bedrooms. At present, it has one of its two current bedrooms en suite, and there’s open stair access to a lofted space used for occasional guest bed nights. The extension plan is to enlarge the property, into the side and rear gardens. Right now, there’s a west-facing graveled patio, and a block-built garage, and heating inside this T-shaped bungalow is primarily down to electric storage heating plus a wood-burning stove in the 26’ by 22’ main living/dining area, with its vaulted ceilings.

There’s views from the terraced area over tillage fields and down to the ocean. Agents are Hegarty Properties, in Midleton.

VERDICT: the realistic and revised €250,000 (down from an optimistic €420,000 of a year ago) with new agents reflects the fact new owners will have to spend further to add to the bedroom tally, but the site makes further investment worthwhile.