Room on top, and vroom down below in this expansive Kerry home for €450,000

Nestled in among the mountains this spacious Co Kerry home is perfect for outdoor lovers 

Beaufort in the Black Valley.

Beaufort, Killarney
€450,000
Size	2,275 sq ft + 1,800 sq ft basement
Bedrooms	5/7
Bathrooms	7
BER	B3

The home in Beaufort in the Black Valley.

A love of the mountains brought the owner to this Beaufort, Black Valley Kerry beauty spot — he reckons he’s climbed Carrauntoohill “at least 1,000 times,” while a daily ritual each morning on waking was to stroll up the smaller mountain, Strickeen, at the back of his home, and to survey the day that was to unfold from the 450 metre elevation: he had this daily constitution down to an hour, door to peak and back to basement door.

It’s not just all uphill at this mountain retreat, as the 20-year-old home has a bit of a surprise at its feet, a full, house-sized basement, more than the size of a family home in its own right.

While it was built with an outdoor activity and training business venture half in mind, over time it came to accommodate a burgeoning collection of motors, spanning classic and merely curious cars and motorbikes.

It can hold quite the fleet, across its 1,800 sq ft.

Beaufort in the Black Valley.

That fleet is being depleted now, in advance of the sell-up and trade-down life stage, and the Strickeen house with a lot more going on inside, and underneath, is on the summer market with Killarney estate agent Ken O’Sullivan.

He guides the one-off house of 2,275 sq ft, built in the traditional Irish style and stone-faced, at €450,000, and says it should appeal to a cross-section, from those who just want an accommodating family home, to those who’d see it work to earn its passage, given its special location in the foothills of Kerry’s majestic mountains, with an array of views down to Lough Leane, Killarney’s largest lake, the town, and valley — ‘Heaven’s Reflex’— as well as Tomies, Purple Mountain, and assorted Reeks.

Picture: Dan Linehan

You have to go down the road a bit to espy Ireland’s tallest moutian, Carrauntoohil, or go up over Strickeen as a sort of base camp: a round trip on foot to Carrauntoohill and back down again is about six hours, this home’s owner reckons.

Even that decent half-day trek is a walk in the park compared to some of his other climbs, which include base camp at Everest, Kilimanjaro on over a dozen occasions, and even forays down to the Antarctic, plus various kayaking adventures at home and abroad.

And, no, he’s not that certain other well-known Irish climber and Everest conqueror, who just so happens to have a house and climbing centre close to this Strickeen ‘for sale’ listing.

He’s just modest and quite low profile, and thus “no names, please,” he says as first sale viewings start with estate agent Ken O’Sullivan (who can be named, thankfully), in exceptionally fine weather to boot.

Associated with Co Kerry beauty spots for 50 years, the vendor bought this three-quarter acre site on the side of Strickeen in the late 1990s, from a woman in his native Co Cork, and it’s one of five in a cluster all designed along the same, broadly traditional dormer lines, though some have evolved more over the intervening decade.

Each bedroom has an ensuite bathroom. Picture: Dan Linehan

The site had a hollow or “a hole in the ground” at the outset, and it was a friend of his who does filling, piling, and other ground works who suggested building the house over a basement. The notion appealed; the tanked concrete basement took shape, and the house followed on then, done by direct labour, and now has five to seven en suite bedrooms over the main two levels.

One is currently used as a drawing room, another a home office, but the scope to revert to seven is there if a new owner wants to use it for a tourism business/accommodation, given the Killarney mountains setting … pretty much as the owner first envisaged, but never acted upon, noting that with one family room it’s capable of sleeping 14 (he has worked overseas, on and off, for decades of his life.)

The living room. Picture: Dan Linehan

Stories from those adventuring, climbing, traveling and trekking days are, it’s firmly intimated, for another day or another forum: “I’m selling the house, not myself,” he reasons.

Motor and petrol heads might be disappointed to hear he’s not selling any of the cars and bikes glimpsed here either, or at least not yet, although a few have recently and rather reluctantly been sold to collectors and specialists ‘up country’: it’s not just furniture and regular home belongings he’s had to assess.

So this accommodating mountain lodge is up for the taking, with plenty of bedrooms, living area, kitchen, and utility, with its internal concrete steps down to the 1,800 sq ft basement, with two columns in situ, but adaptable, for storage, specialist interests and outdoor paraphernalia, gym, home cinema, or upgrades to other accommodation uses.

The view from the living room. Picture: Dan Linehan

There’s a concrete tunnel entrance to the front with two roller shutter doors, with viewing terrace above: from inside of the house, it’s utterly invisible, doesn’t interfere with views thanks to the fall of ground away from it, and “guests are always amazed when I show it to them and take them down the stairs from the house,” says the proud owner, noting he has installed power, lighting and services, a ventilation system and, more recently, effective heating as “you’d be slow to go down to work there before in winter, as it might be five degrees cooler there,” he points out (wine cellar, anyone?).

The master bedroom. Picture: Dan Linehan

Overall condition of the 20-year old stone-fronted and unexpectedly spacious house is good, it has oil-fired central heating and gets a very decent B3 BER, and the selling agent Mr O’Sullivan says it has 360 degree views, and no mistaking the setting given all the famous landmarks in that panorama.

Killarney town is 10 minutes by car (less in the Porsche, or by motorbike?), and Kerry Airport is about a 20-minute more stately spin.

The view from the master bedroom looking towards Lough Leane. Picture: Dan Linehan

On a good day, apart from the likes of Purple Mountain, Tomes, Reeks peak and ‘the Grotto’, town, lake, Europe hotel, and Dunloe hotel views, there’s also views out to the Slieve Mish and Brandon on the Dingle peninsula, as well as transatlantic aircraft overhead: might a buyer drop from the skies, to land in Heaven’s Reflex?

VERDICT: Room on top, and vroom down below.