200-year-old home in South Cork is a delightful Georgian residence in a wooded setting

Glebe House, in Nohoval, has had many incarnations in its 200 years, and its sale is another, says Tommy Barker.

Nohoval, South Cork €525,000

Size: 258 (2,700 sq ft)

Bedrooms: 6 plus 4

Bathrooms: 5 plus 4

BER: Pending

Best Feature: Loads of space to play around with, all in a setting by South Cork coastline

THE Glebe House, in Nohoval, by the coastline of south County Cork, is two hundred years old, fact: the date 1816 is carved in stone over the front door.

A detached home, set on private, wooded grounds of close to two acres, it was bought by its current family owners in 1987 from the elderly widow of a former Church of Ireland clergyman, who bought it from the church in 1978.

The father of the current owner swooped when he found he could commute to his job in Cork City more quickly from this rural setting, near Oysterhaven and Kinsale, than he could at that pre-tunnel time from Tivoli.

He had lived next to the period home, Lotabeg House (which caused an auction stir last month); back in the 1970s, Tivoli might have only been a few miles downriver, east of Cork City, but this was pre-ring road, when traffic crawled along the quays during morning commutes.

He fell for this house, aiming to turn it into a small country hotel, around 1990, adding services and extra rooms, but while he did the renovations, and registered the business as Glebe House Hotel, it never traded as a hotel.

Now, its added-on rooms in a rear, courtyard/coachhouse conversion (which links to the main house with a glazed roof over the former 30’ by 20’ courtyard, with feature central fountain) seems a time capsule of what family-owned hotels were like.

Now, having nursed the generation that initially bought Glebe House, and with another generation just reared and left, the couple in situ are selling.

Joint agents Malcolm Tyrrell, of Cohalan Downing with William Hunter,, prices the much-extended period home, on 2.5 acres, at €525,000.

Much-extended? There’s probably too much house (or rooms) for most occupants, so whoever buys is likely to not only need builder, but to part-demolish.

Its next owners will take a step back to take several steps forward, but they will have a chance to do the house to their own spec and finishes, while retaining authenticity, as well as having space on very private grounds.

This is all within 15-20 minutes of Kinsale and/or Carrigaline, and of Cork airport, with more local services on the doorstep in pretty Nohoval village, home to the famed Finders’ Inn.

And, the sea’s only a mile or two as the gull flies at Nohoval Cove, or Oysterhaven.

Mr Tyrrell says the Glebe is “a delightful Georgian residence in a wooded setting,” and right by its entrance gates is a retained well, which served the parish of Nohoval up to the early 1900s.

In the main house, there are two large, interconnected reception rooms, a drawing room, and a small study by the hall, which is likely to have been where parish discussions took place in earlier centuries.

The kitchen is off yonder, by some/several service rooms and pantries and the side/back is a warren (there was an extension added around 1900) and in need of opening up.

The courtyard’s a novel feature, and the old, arched entrance has now been glazed for weather-proofing.

Finally, the old coach-house conversion could be re-ordered or kept as a self-contained annexe/granny flat, but needs more opening out upstairs.

Apart from the 1990 extension, other works include the conversion of the coach-house, linked to a Victorian- styled sun roof, reroofing in 1978, underpinning and new drains in 2001, new waste tanks, and central-heating upgrade in 2010.

VERDICT: Needs fresh energy and spending