Starter homes: Kilworth, Cork €250,000

Size: 186 sq m (2,000 sq ft)

This Bakers Bridge home, set above the banks of the Araglen river in north Cork, near Kilworth, is a picturesque beauty. And, much appreciated for its scenic setting, its bridge-flanking gardens are even used by locals for wedding photographs.

It has a long tradition of courting and couple-dom, as the junction by this finely-refurbished home was for decades a spot for crossroads dancing.

A couple with Irish/English background took on this house renewal project in 1996, finishing it in 2000, and now the woman of the house is trading down from this 2,000 sq ft home of immense character.

Selling agent Michael Dorgan in Mitchelstown has the house newly up for sale on 2.75 acres, to include the main house; a nearby stone building; two stables; a tack room and garage. And the house’s interior is every bit as attractive as the old-world setting by the rustic stone bridge and gurgling weir.

The Araglen river is a tributary of the Blackwater, and rises about six miles away from Bakers Bridge and a buyer can fish for trout from the banks of this property. The local Araglen school is two minutes drive away, the M8 Cork-Dublin motorway a 15-minute spin to junction 14 — and the setting is miles away from the busy world beyond.

There’s a sun room to the front, inter-linked main reception rooms with character and stone chimney hearth core with large wood-burning stove, the kitchen’s got a Belfast sink, pitch pine units and granite tops, two of the three upstairs bedrooms share an en suite, and a ground floor bedroom is also en suite. There’s also a utility room.

VERDICT: A lovely mix of setting and scenery, and a house as well kept outside as inside.