House of the week

IF the stone walls of this eco-friendly west Cork house could talk, they’d sing. Or, maybe they’d beat a bodhran, or mix passion, pathos and poetry on a guitar, for this place has been a retreat and contemplative space for Ireland’s greatest troubadour, Christy Moore.

Moore, who featured on our TV screens just last month in an hour-long interview and song special with Gay Byrne, is this month quietly putting his Ahakista home on the market.

Christy Moore, as much as his other Ahakista celebrity neighbour, Graham Norton, is reportedly allergic to media references to his regular presence on this spectacularly beautiful and quiet west Cork peninsula, on the Sheep’s Head. But, that’s not the reason for the planned sale; 66-year old Christy and his family just aren’t getting as much use out of it as before.

Designed and built in the early/mid-1990s, when its eco-credentials were well ahead of the curve, it is a sympathetic, curvy structure in local stone, natural slate and timber, with outdoor swimming pool that has proven the efficiencies of energy-efficient design and credentials.

Selling agents are Denis Harrington, of Harrington Estates in Bantry, jointly with Andrew Moore and Co in Cork city — Andy Moore is Christy’s brother, and the Moore Melodies link continues with Andy’s son, Gavin Moore, also in the song-writing and singing business.

Christy’s hideaway house is south-facing, up a hill from the harbour in Ahakista at Maulnaskeaha, and this modest, private and circa 1,300 sq ft house is on 1.3 acres, gardened by the house, and then grading to a natural backdrop and native vegetation boundaries.

It was commissioned and built by an Englishwoman living locally, picking up on Feng Shui themes, and she drafted in ‘ecotect’ engineer and architect, Paul Leech, of Gaia Architecture, who was in the then-vanguard of environmentally-sensitive design and energy-efficiency.

It won a Construction Excellence Award in 1995, the same year that Leech won an RIAI design award for a striking teepee-shaped house in Bandon.

Both featured in these Property pages at the time, and the Ahakista home came to Christy Moore and his wife, Val’s attention after they saw it on RTÉ’s About the House.

According to estate agent Harrington, the geothermal heating system and way of using an outdoor swimming pool as part of a heat-exchange/pump system has worked really well from its inception. “The place is nearly too warm, if anything,” he says.

The house is a low-ish trefoil or Y-shape, with two compact, en-suite guest-bedroom wings, a balcony-set master en-suite bedroom, a gallery kitchen leading down to the living area and out to the garden.

Scene-setter is the tall, central, stone chimney breast, designed as what’s called a trombe wall, set behind glass to absorb solar gain. “It’s an imaginative stone residence which draws inspiration from the local environment,” says Harrington, adding that “at the risk of seeming corny, there’s an almost spiritual feel to the place.”

It’s not a house for everyone and probably won’t fit the bill as a family home, but Harrington says it’s going to fit a niche for a writer, artist, environmentally-aware individuals, or early retirees looking for a truly individual home which is ageing extremely well.

Location: Ahakista, Cork

Price: €450,000

Size: 121 sq m (1,300 sq ft)

Bedrooms: 3

BER rating: Pending

Broadband: Available

Best asset: Eco-cred

VERDICT: The house is a one-off with soul and a bit of attitude - a bit like its owner.