Glamping or golfers' 'isolating bubbles' among many blue sky 'new horizon' options at Kinsale's €1.35m Blue Horizon

Six Wild Atlantic Way acres facing the Old Head of Kinsale and its golf course have a hospitality history, and  can be seen as a blank canvas,  or  re-worked for a shifting tourism market. Millionaire's private ranch, even?

Hospitality venue the Blue Horizon, Garretstown, Co Cork. The mix includes three coastal cottages.

A HOSPITALITY venue that has only changed hands once in the past 100 years, by beaches near Kinsale, has a series of on-trend sales pitches for pandemic times, and beyond.

Next directions for the Blue Horizon, by Garretstown’s beaches and looking out to the Old Head of Kinsale Golf Course, include a set up for golfers and others forming an isolation cluster or bubble, glamping, cookery school, wellness weekend retreat or resort, remote working in a beauty spot, or just a mix of staycation and vacation uses, with a seaside flavour.

Listed with at €1.35 million price guide with agent Patricia O’Regan of Sheehy Brothers based in Kinsale town is the long-established Blue Horizon, on six acres just a few hundred yards west of the beaches: the mix includes three coastal cottages (one’s a four-bed, and two are one-beds), and main 10-bed, en suite guesthouse with bar/hotel licence.

New horizons?

In all, there are nearly 10,000 sq ft of well-maintained buildings, on about half an acre set at the top of the overall six acres which run to a cliff by the sea near a blowhole.

Blue Horizon. Garretstown, where the views are phenomenal.

“It’s a very special property positioned in such a stunning spot. The views are phenomenal and the opportunities for a new owner to do something new and exciting there are endless,” says Ms O’Regan. She adds that it’s been in the same ownership since the early 1980s, with the operators now retiring. It traded until last year as a family-run venture and has had 4.5 out of 5-star rating on TripAdvisor.

She says it can be seen as a blank canvas, or re-worked for a shifting tourism market, or may even be bought as a private home: a US-based financier has developed a circular, multi-million euro private retreat on a large headland landbank to the west of the Blue Horizon.

Since launching to market, the Sheehy Brothers estate agent reports “a huge level of interest, but we’re a bit hindered at the moment with viewing restrictions.” An early offer below the guide price has been received, ever before lockdown restrictions ease.

Ocean views span Courtmacsherry Bay, the sentinel Old Head lighthouse, and further out to sea, the site of the sinking of the Lusitania, and in a digital age, and with a surge of appreciation for surfing, sea sport, and swimming, its online marketing appeal is enormous.

The setting is on the Wild Atlantic Way and nearby are popular and successful ventures in Ballinspittle, Kinsale, and Courtmacsherry to the west, along with the Speckled Door, Stranded Café (the redevelopment of the former Coakleys Atlantic Hotel is currently stalled), while the Old Head Golf Course has a global reputation among the upper, wealthy echelons of the sport.

“There is certainly plenty going on to attract people to the area, and plenty of demand, but there’s little available nearby to offer in terms of accommodation or food,” says Ms O’Regan.

Details: Sheehy Brothers 021-4772338.