Knock, knock, knock on affordable €295k Durrus ex-restaurant's door

With an imported pizza oven and sky views from the bath tub, Trish Dromey shows off this unique three gabled property

Say cheese? Or three cheers, for Three Gables in West Cork's  Durrus, on offer from €295k via estate agent Pat Maguire

Durrus, West Cork
€295,000
Size	195 sq m (2,100 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	3
BER	B3

EVEN by usual standards in West Cork, a place where tycoons and celebrities build luxurious holiday homes and paint their castles pink — Three Gables at Dromreagh near Durrus is quite an unusual property.

Rear view of Three Gables

The low slung house does indeed have three gables, and its most striking feature is a long glass conservatory running through its centre — connecting it up to wings on either side which resemble elongated cottages.

Warm welcome awaits in living area

Given the distinctiveness of the design, it isn’t surprising to learn that it was built by a German architect as his family home in the late 1990s. That it was also a restaurant — given its rural location , on a scenic secluded site surrounded by woodland, is a little more unexpected.

Auctioneer Pat Maguire says that Three Gables was in fact one of several restaurants operating successfully in rural parts of West Cork at the time. “The dining area was in the central conservatory — it was the first restaurant in West Cork to cook steak on a stone and it also had a pizza oven which was quite a novelty,” he reveals.

Glass act

Although it kept the restaurant name — it has not been used as one for many years, having long since been bought as a holiday home by French owners.

Newly arrived on the market this month with a guide of €295,000 — the three gabled, single-storey property has 2,100 sq ft of living space as well as an acre and a half of woodland gardens with a pond and decking. The south-west facing gable windows — most especially the one on the conservatory — offers scenic views towards Dunmanus Bay and Sheep’s Head in the distance.

Mr Maguire says that the property needs modernisation but has fantastic potential. “For a guide of €295,000 — an architect-designed West Cork property with scenic views and a large site offers value”.

The location, 2 km from Durrus village and within easy reach of Sheep’s Head, Ahakista and Bantry is also an attraction. “Durrus has become much more popular in recent years and offers better value than Schull or Ahakista,” observes Mr Maguire who says he’s still seeing a lot of house-hunting city buyers actively seeking out a West Cork home.

In addition to its unusual design, Three Gables has a few quirky features added by its original owners. The bathroom on the master bedroom has a glass roof which allows occupants of the sunken bath to look up and observe the stars. And the large steel pizza oven, imported from Italy for the restaurant, is still in place.

At one end of the central conservatory, there’s a hallway filled with semi-tropical plants which must have been the restaurant entrance. The larger part of the conservatory is a dining space with a pizza oven and a window with views towards Dunmanus Bay.

In a wing at one side, there’s a living room with a vaulted ceiling, a kitchen with a large centre island, a utility room and a bedroom with a glass-roofed en suite. Mr Maguire says that the German architect/ restaurateur used high end fittings in both the kitchen and in the bathrooms.

The wing on the opposite side has three more bedrooms including one in a separate wing at the end. There is also a lounge, a washroom and two bathrooms, one with a jacuzzi bath.

The lounge has glass doors opening on to a decking area at the side which overlooks a pond.

Just as the house needs some redecoration and updating , the gardens look overgrown and in need of tending.

While building the property, the German owners fitted solar panels on one of the wings.

It now has a C3 BER rating which seems good for property built in the late 1990s.

It’s interesting to note that back in 2010, Three Gables came on the market with a much higher guide price of €775,000.

At €295,000, Mr Maguire says it’s now priced to sell.

VERDICT: Distinctive and interesting as well as spacious and scenic.