Natural beauty with a modern edge is easy on the eye (and ears)

Halfway between Ballydehob and Schull, this tastefully adapted home is a haven of tranquility, writes Tommy Barker

The last house down around Ballydehob way that the Irish Examiner visited with estate agent Martin Swanton was snapped up even before we got it into the paper — it went sale agreed to one of the first two viewers, within a week. It was an old farmhouse, done up with contemporary glazed extensions by a Dublin couple with design experience, on five acres with outbuildings, and had been guided at €280,000. As it turns out, its next occupants are also coming from Dublin, the surveys have been done, and it’s one of the quickest sales in a while locally.

Now, on the back of that positivity, Mr Swanton has another Schull/Ballydehob offering with strong visual appeal, but it’s more of a type, with romantic, sympathetic stone extensions and upgrades on the traditional farmhouse theme: the treatments, rather than look, are modern.