City to Country: Two-bed home in Dublin 3 or touch of wilderness in €255,000 Cappoquin cabin

This selection of properties offers comfort and character, writes Trish Dromey

Coolagortboy Cappoquin

Clontarf, Dublin 3
€395,000
Size	44 sq m (473 sq ft)
Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	1
BER	G

Dainty and cute, No 14 Conquer Hill Avenue in Clontarf is a two-bed Victorian cottage with pretty period features and a reduced guide of €395,000.

Selling agent Karen Mulvaney Property says the property is owner-occupied and very well cared for, in addition to being well located within walking distance of local shops and amenities, and also from the seafront promenade.

Situated in a cul de sac of pretty terraced Victorian cottages, the double-fronted property has just 44 sq m of living space. At one side of the hallway there are two bedrooms and on the other a high-ceiling sitting room with a fireplace and painted timber floorboards.

In an extension at the rear there’s also a tiled kitchen/diner with modern white units and a wetroom. The cottage also has a small west-facing yard at the rear.

The BER is a G but this seems to have been done before the installation of a new gas boiler.

Ms Mulvaney says that the location is both popular and convenient. “You have excellent eateries on your doorstep, while the seafront is within a few minutes’ walk. The promenade has a cycle track running all the way to Sutton and other recreational facilities include Dollymount Strand, St Anne’s Park,” she notes, adding that the city centre, the IFSC, and Eastpoint Business Park are within easy commuting distance.

Recent sales on Conquer Hill Avenue include that of No 8 — a two-bed mid-terrace house which sold for €465,000 in April.

VERDICT: As sweet as they come.

Sneem, Co Kerry
€330,000
Size	96 sq m (1,033 sq ft)
Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	2
BER	B3

Everything about this renovated two-bed cottage at Ardmore in Sneem looks picture perfect, but it’s the glass-enclosed patio in the garden that’s the scene-stealer.

Enclosed on three sides by a low wall topped with glass panels, the patio provides shelter in which the owners can sit and enjoy the surrounding scenery and the views of Kenmare Bay and the Caha Mountains across on Beara.

Renovating the 1980s-built property in recent years, they put in a large corner window and patio door so they could also admire the views from the living area.

Comprehensive renovations involved rewiring, replumbing, installing new windows ,and bringing the BER up to a B3. An extension at the rear created space for a sitting room and a playroom and a revamp of the interior modernised and brightened the rooms.

Accommodation includes a kitchen/ living room with blue shaker-style units as well as a bathroom, two bedrooms, (one en suite), and a playroom.

Set on a site of over two thirds of an acre, the cottage is located 8.5km from Sneem, 5km from White Strand, and 15km from Derrynane Beach. Listing it with a guide of €330,000 John Daly of Sherry FitzGerald Daly says it has been renovated to a high standard and is charming, scenic and secluded.

“It’s perfect for holidays but, as a modern property with broadband, could also be bought by a buyer who wants to work from home,” he says.

VERDICT: Everything’s been done — so a new owner can just sit and enjoy the views.

Cloughjordan, Co Tipperary
€275,000
Size	169 sq m (1,810 sq ft)
Bedrooms	5
Bathrooms	2
BER	B2

A buyer thinking of embracing sustainable living might be interested in purchasing No 10 Ard na gCapall in Cloughjordan and becoming a resident of Ireland’s only eco village.

The five-bed detached house — new to the market with a guide of €275,000 — has a B2 BER and its heating is supplied by a biomass district heating system fuelled by wood chips. It, along with the other 49 houses in the village, shares access to 60 acres of allotments and woodland.

Selling agent Eoin Dillon of REA Dillon says properties in the eco village are quite rare to the market although he did sell two to relocating French buyers last year.

“It attracts quite a varied range of residents, including quite a number of people who worked from home long before covid. The owner of this one is a photographer who specialises in taking pictures of insects, plants, and small animals,’’ he reveals.

A well-maintained five-bed property built in 2012, it has 169 sq m of accommodation including a kitchen with cream units, an oak-floored sitting room, a bedroom, a utility room, and a bathroom. On the first floor there’s a bathroom and four more bedrooms.

Outside there’s a garden with decking and a built-in trampoline. Mr Dillon says the owner has put in logs for mushroom growing at the rear but didn’t get to put in the chicken coop and the green house he had originally planned for.

VERDICT: An opportunity to go green

Cappoquin, West Waterford
€255,000
Size	147 sq m (1,582 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	2
BER	B3

There is a touch of the wilderness in the setting for this Swedish-style log cabin at Coolagortboy near Cappoquin in West Waterford.

“Set on an elevated site with views across a forested valley to the Knockmeldowns — it has a bit of a Grizzly Adams feel but without the bears,’’ says Eamonn Sprat of REA Spratt quoting an asking price of €255,000 for the four-bed property and its two-thirds of an acre site.

It was built in 2006 by owners who fell in love with the area while visiting on a holiday, bought a site and built a log cabin-style home which would blend in with the scenic surroundings.

All the rooms except for the bathroom and the ensuite have timber floors, ceilings, and walls. This includes a kitchen with cream units and centre island, as well as a dining room, a sitting room and four bedrooms.

“It’s a well-presented home in a fabulous setting which offers peace and privacy as well as scenery,” says Mr Spratt.

Located 7km from Cappoquin village, the chalet is 15km from Lismore and around an hour and 15-minute journey from Cork City.

“It could be a lifestyle choice for a Cork city buyer who wants to work full time from home or commute once or twice a week,” says Mr Spratt who says the area has become more popular with these types of buyers of late.

VERDICT: A scenic and rustic home with modern comforts and a B3 BER