Hard-to-beat views at this beautifully renovated €695,000 Baltimore traditional farmhouse
Ballylinch, Baltimore
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Baltimore, West Cork |
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€695,000 |
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Size |
Size: 125 sq m (1345 sq ft) |
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Bedrooms |
3 |
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Bathrooms |
2 |
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BER |
C2 |
There are no airs and graces about the traditional Irish farmhouse. It’s such a common presence in our landscape, that we tend to overlook it when it comes to our built heritage.
Its lack of architectural heft makes the case for preservation less compelling, but the truth is there’s a lovely authenticity about these buildings.
Moreover, they often sit in far greater harmony with their natural surroundings than some, more contemporary fare.
For sure, the fate of this particular traditional farmhouse in Ballylinch hung in the balance when it went on the market over a decade ago.
Uninhabited for some time, it was tending towards decay. The garden had seen better days too.
However, the state of the property and of the elevated 0.9 acres it sits on did not disincentivise the buyers, who declare themselves “lifelong fans of Baltimore”.
They saw it as an opportunity which they grasped with great enthusiasm.
“We put a digger into the house and we took out everything, from floor to rafters. All that was left was the four walls and the roof,” say the couple who bought it in 2009.
Starting in 2009 and continuing through most of 2010, they renovated the property entirely, re-plumbing, re-wiring, putting in new doors and new windows, installing central heating, fitting new bathrooms and replacing some of the rear of the premises to get better use from the structure, fitting it with a superbly crisp, brightly-lit kitchen, a gleaming hallway and a bathroom.
If you enter the house through the new hallway, you can see right through and out the other side to the bay, thanks to strategically placed glazing.
In essence, the new owners preserved the external traditional look of the three-bay, two storey farmhouse while contemporizing it inside, creating an enviably light-filled home with cool, clean lines in the downstairs, open-plan living space, where huge floor-to-ceiling glazing runs along a kitchen wall framing the seascape beyond.
Anyone sitting at the perfectly placed dining table is looking straight out over Church Strand Bay and beyond, towards the outer harbour, and the lovely islands of Sherkin and Cape Clear.
As well as the light flooding in through the supersize sliding door that opens onto the off-the-kitchen patio, the kitchen space is further illuminated by a feature light-well, fitted with two Velux windows.
There’s a great sense of space too, thanks to use of natural tones in the décor and full pane, clear glass double doors between the kitchen and living room-cum-lounge, which is fitted with a wood-burning stove.
Outside, the front garden has the best of aspects. It faces south west, so you can flit between lawn and patio (or the south-west facing entrance porch) to capture the best of the sunshine well into a summer’s evening.
The owners have done tremendous work to the garden (“It was a jungle when we bought the house,” they say) and there’s nothing to impede the beautiful views, which can also be enjoyed from all the main living spaces and the three upstairs bedrooms.
There’s a nice smattering of mature trees on the land and some landscaping and the front lawn is in two tiers, with the lower tier rolling towards the bay.
They've also worked on the insulation and the 125 sq m house - which they named ‘Curlew Sound’ after the unmistakable, plaintive cry of the wader bird - has a solid C2 energy rating.
Having done the hard work and created a little slice of paradise no more than a mile outside picturesque Baltimore village, and after wringing an enjoyable dozen years or so out of it, the owners are now looking at another building project and have decided to sell their terrifically-situated home.
It comes to market with a guide price of €695,000 and selling agent Ron Krueger of Engel & Voelkers says they’ve already had enquiries from as far away as Australia.
“We are seeing interest from Cork, Dublin, the UK, the USA and Australia and we are seeing a range of potential buyers.
“There are people interested in it as a holiday home, but also as a family home, and of course it’s on a lovely, big site so there’s plenty of room to expand,” Mr Krueger says.
Retirees are making enquiries too, “people who would use it as a base for their retirement and are looking to downsize”, Mr Krueger adds.
Given its West Cork location, there’s no shortage of local attractions, not least magical Lough Hyne, a marine nature reserve, home to an incredible variety of fish and plant life, and a popular haunt for swimming and kayaking.
Then there’s Sherkin Island, reachable via a regular ferry from Baltimore village - or by yacht if you’ve a sailing boat- and there’s a ferry too to the Gaeltacht island of Cape Clear.
And of course there’s Baltimore village itself, with its quality bars and restaurants, such as 2021 Michelin Star winner Dede and the transformed Algiers Inn.
As Mr Krueger says: “You have a wealth of amenities on your doorstep”.
Where better to enjoy life’s simple pleasures than in this little haven of tranquility?
The perfect antidote to stressful city living, it will appeal to those looking to escape the rat race. Views are to die for.
