Gorgeous Kenmare cottage is pretty as a picture

Trish Dromey inspects a true rarity — a gorgeous cottage in one of the south-west’s picture-postcard towns.

Some holiday home developments replicate the prettiness of period cottages, but a buyer who wants the real deal will find it at No 3 Parnell Place in Kenmare With its gable-style grid windows and blue-painted bargeboards and window surrounds, the 1900s-built property is very photogenic.

It’s located in the middle of a terrace of eight (all equally well painted in varying shades of blue, purple and brown) which probably catches the attention of many camera-carrying tourists who walk the local heritage trail.

Selling agents Sherry FitzGerald Daly say that the facade of the quaint and picturesque cottage has remained the same for over a century. Seeking offers of €195,000, auctioneer Elaine Daly says that in addition to being very pretty, the property is also very centrally located, within minutes’ walk of the main thoroughfare on Henry Street.

The 990 sq ft mid-terrace cottage has been upgraded over the years and has an extension at the rear containing a kitchen, a small utility room, and a shower room.

Overlooking the garden at the front is a carpeted living room which has a large grid window and a stone chimney breast with a raised hearth and a solid fuel stove. Alongside it, with a smaller grid window as well as a cast-iron fireplace on an exposed stone wall, is a room which used to be a living room but is now a bedroom.

To the rear, the more recently-added kitchen has fitted units and a door to the yard and one to the utility room. A staircase in the living room leads to the first floor, which has two bedrooms with cast -iron fireplaces and stone walls including one with an en suite WC.

The cottage has a garden with hedging and stone walls at the front and yard with pedestrian access at the rear.

A protected structure, the property has the original timber single -glazed grid windows at the front. It’s fitted with oil central heating.

Ms Daly says that most of the properties in this terrace are owned by locals who have had them for years.

“These cottages very rarely come on the market. This one is getting quite a bit of interest, so I don’t expect it to be too long on the market,” she said.

VERDICT: Needs some upgrading but is exceptionally pretty.

Kenmare, Co Kerry, €195,000

Size: 92 sq m (990 sq ft)

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms: 2

BER: exempt