€550k East Cork beach home not baa-d

Upgraded bungalow would make a superb seaside home just a few steps from the beach at Ardnahinch

Cuanin, Ardnahinch, Shanagarry, Cork

Ardnahinch, East Cork
€550,000
Size	122 sq m (1,423 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	2
BER	C

The owners of Cuanin turn a bit sheepish when asked why they are selling their picture-perfectly upgraded bungalow, set only a few steps away from the long, sandy beach at Ardnahinch, Shanagarry in East Cork.

“We’ve fostered four sheep and want to have a bit of land for them, and a barn, and, oh, a house as well,” laughs Rose, co-owner with Noel of their 1,400 sq ft four-bed home on 0.4 of an acre … plenty of ground for a family, but not really for sheep and/or horses.

Horses?

Well, they’re another four-legged passion for Rose whose pragmatic, professional career in media is matched with a bit more of an alternative streak, having transferred her reiki therapy training and skills from humans to horses (eight) and to foals (four).

Having lived and worked in Australia as well as Ireland, the animal lover is also an artist, with a number of her own exuberant large canvases with strong sea themes, abstractly depicted, adorning Cuanin’s more restrained white walls, all coming for sale as far more than a blank canvas for next occupiers. (A canny buyer might get one or two thrown into the sale, as they are so at home here.)

Noel and Rose bought here back in 2016 when the, originally standard-issue bungalow, they’d just acquired was dated, in poor enough order and needed rejuvenating: it got all this and more, and now hits a very solid C BER.

It has new, energy efficient windows and doors, new floors, new kitchen with very attractive aqua coloured tiling, new bathrooms (two) — well-tiled with good walk-in showers — new oil heating, and a feature corner stove/fireplace by the kitchen accessed from the main living rooms, plus a utility and a large, open living space, directly accessed from the front door.

There’s new life here for sure and “the house oozes happiness”, says Rose, but happy enough to move their lifestyle home, set just six doors away from the beach, to new hands for their livestock husbandry adventure and new hooves on their next acre plotline.

DNG Spillane’s Conor Spillane has Cuanin under early offer at €555,000, just over the AMV and had viewings booked in for this week, when the East Cork coastline (like the rest of this isle) basked in sunshine.

Mr Spillane says it’s set “literally seconds from the stunning sands of Ardnahinch beach, it’s beautifully maintained, and is a rare opportunity to acquire a substantial and superbly finished family home in one of East Cork’s most desirable seaside locations”.

Just seconds away from the sea, it’s about 40 minutes from Cork city, near key communities like Shanagarry, Ballycotton and Garryvoe. The beach area, increasingly, is home to full-time residents as well as holiday makers and mobile home owners who might jump at the chance to switch to bricks and mortar, as well as buckets and spades

“Properties in this location rarely come to the market, particularly those presented to such a high standard, with storage sheds for hobbies and occupying such a generous site like Cuanin’s 0.4 acre,” Mr Spillane concludes.

VERDICT: Not baaa-d at all