A room with a view: Lush gardens and mountain scenery for revamped Kenmare home

Trish Dromey takes a look at a revamped home near Kenmare that has lush gardens and mountain views

Sat, 05 May, 2018 - 01:00

Trish Dromey takes a look at a revamped home near Kenmare that has lush gardens and mountain views

Opting to spend their retirement gazing out on to the scenic beauty of Kenmare Bay, the Dublin couple who bought Beechlawn at Cappanacush pulled out all the stops to make themselves as comfortable as possible while doing so.

They reroofed, renovated and redecorated the 1970s bungalow and also added on a modern sunroom. Once the interior was completed to their satisfaction, they continued on to level the garden, plant shrubs, grow vegetables, dig ponds and lay down a decking area so that they could fully appreciate the views of the bay and the Caha Mountains across on Beara.

Although it is now just 17 months since they purchased, and six or seven months after they finished work on turning it in to their “forever home”, the couple are making plans to leave, pulled back east by “the tug of grandchildren”.

The sale is so recent that the brochure which advertised it before they bought it can still be seen online, showing an extended bungalow minus sunroom, decking, and ponds which is painted yellow on the outside.

Beechlawn is now white, stylish and modern with a new sunroom — a bright modern room with a vaulted ceiling and concertina doors which open out on to the decking at the front and the side making it seem like an outdoor space.

Alongside this is a large open plan kitchen living room which has been upgraded from floor to ceiling. Stainless steel units were replaced with white country style ones, and the owners also included a large centre island, put down oak flooring and took away the Georgian effect on the patio doors and window because it interfered with the views Also overlooking Kenmare Bay at the front of the bungalow are three bedrooms including a small one used as a study and a large end one with a recently upgraded en suite. The bathroom is also at the front while at the rear, there’s a bedroom and utility room, which used to be the porch. When the owners added the sunroom extension, they created a new entrance and hallway.

Improved insulation, some triple glazing and a newly installed boiler have helped them to upgrade Beechlawn’s BER cert from a C3 to a C1.

With close to three acres of gardens, the property has space for all sorts of horticultural endeavors.

There is an array of out buildings including two which were previously used as stables. Most are used for storage now but there is one oak floored one with heating and a nautical theme which is used as a “man den”.

When the owners bought Beechlawn, it had a steeply sloping field at the rear — this has now been leveled into three terraces and has three large interconnecting ponds. At the highest point they put in a decked and railed seating area while closer to the house they put up a polytunnel and used it for growing their own veg.

The front garden already had a circular feature planted with heathers and surrounded by graveled paths. Keeping this, the owners put in additional beds, timber railing and planted rhododendrons, camellias and a multitude of colourful shrubs and rose bushes.

Located off the Ring of Kerry road, Beechlawn is 1km from Templenoe and 8km from Kenmare. A key attraction for current owners was the fact that it’s within 2km from the Ring of Kerry Golf course and 8km from Kenmare Golf course.

Seeking offers of €385,000, Sherry FitzGerald Daly say that Beechlawn, with its renovated interior and stunning views, will appeal to a wide range of buyers. “It would make a wonderful holiday home but could also be bought as a permanent residence by another retired couple or buyers who want to spent part of the year in Kenmare,’’ said auctioneer Sean Daly.

It might also, he feels, be a family home for a buyer who wants to rear their family in Kenmare and commute to the UK. “There are quite a number of people living locally now who commute to London from Farranfore on Monday mornings.”

VERDICT: Perfect for the actively retired with gardening, scenery gazing, and golfing nearby.