Less is more at Toormore €425k West Cork farm cottage upgraded by a boat builder and an artist

Islanders went inland a bit, but missed the sea and are heading back to the coastline having done lots of work to 925 sq ft two-bed cottage and studio

Sublime setting at Toormore. Agent Pat Maguire guides at €425,000

Toormore, West Cork
€425,000
Size	88 sq m (925 sq ft)
Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	1
BER	g

In the hands of a West Cork artist and her boat builder husband, this traditional farmhouse at Dreenane, Toormore in West Cork has gone from being pretty and scenic but in need of TLC to being positively idyllic.

Dreenane Toormore home has been further upgraded by owners, an artist and a boat builder

A quintessential farmhouse painted blue and white on the outside, it now has attractive dormer windows, a sunroom extension at the front, a new roof and a sympathetically renovated interior with an artist’s studio at one side.

Kitchen

The artist and boatbuilder involved are Christine Thery and Gubby Williams who moved there two years ago from Heir Island where they had lived for the previous 25.

It was the wild rugged scenery and the character of the thick stone-walled farmhouse that drew them to it. Partially renovated over the years, it had a conservatory in a poor state of repair and needed significant upgrading – but was exactly the type of property they wanted.

Five acres!

The setting on an elevated five acre site looking down towards Toormore Bay was perfect. “We liked the fact that it was semi remote but within easy reach of Schull and just a few kilometres from Ballyrisode Beach,” reveals Christine.

The upgrades started with the digging up of the floor and the laying of a damp course underneath. After that came the replacement of the old conservatory with a lean to extension and the fitting of a new roof and dormer windows to replace the low traditional ones on the upper level.

Cosy feel

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When it came to decorating the interior the aim was to keep it simple and rustic, preserve the original footprint and wherever possible keep the original features and some put in by earlier renovators. It’s exactly the same shade of blue and white it was when they bought it and still has a painted compass on the gable wall added by a previous owner.

New sunroom

The newly-added front sunroom serves as a dining room and has large windows with views of rugged countryside and Toormore Bay in the distance. Inside it there’s an open plan kitchen living room which has an original beamed ceiling painted white. At one end is a traditional sitting room with a stove and a few of Christine’s paintings, and, at the other, a kitchen with fitted units and an Everhot range.

Work space

“The kitchen units came from Ikea but we have added pitch pine countertops,’’ reveals Christine explaining that to keep the appearance simple they put almost all the kitchen appliances out of sight in a back kitchen.

Alongside the back kitchen is a bathroom with a corner bath and at the side in a bright reroofed lean to, is Christine’s studio.

A staircase in the living room leads to two bedrooms including a large one with exposed timber ceiling beams. From the dormer windows there are views of Toormore Bay and of the Fastnet Rock.

 “At night you can see the light from the lighthouse flashing on the bedroom walls,” reveals Christine, who opted to put blinds rather than curtains on all the windows.

Although they have made improvements to energy efficiency, the couple didn’t get around to getting a new BER cert done, so it’s still a G but should be higher.

Rear view 

Behind the house there’s a large expanse of rocky outcrop and at the front and side there are gardens, which in summer have flowering hydrangea and Montbretia.

“We had plans to put solar panels on the rocky bank behind the house ,” says Christine, adding that they had also plans for a side extension. But much and all as they love the house, the character and the scenery – they have come to miss the sea at Heir Island and have decided to move back closer to Roaring Water Bay.

As a result auctioneer Pat Maguire, who sold the house to them in 2021, is now reselling it for them and has recently listed it with a guide of €425,000.

The location, the setting, the scenery and proximity to many of West Cork’s best known villages and tourist haunts are significant attractions. Goleen village is within a ten minute drive (eight km) and Schull is 12 km.