Garden of delights at Dutch couple's €795,000 Beara home
West Cork Village of Eyeries, on the North West tip of the Beara peninsula. Picture: Dan Linehan
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Eyeries, West Cork |
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€795,000 |
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Size |
365 sq m (3,900 sq ft) |
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Bedrooms |
5 |
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Bathrooms |
3 |
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BER |
3 |
WELL, they were as good as their word.
Having fallen in love with one of the loveliest spots on Ireland’s Beara Peninsula, Dutch couple Hennie and Maja Wykmans made a promise to one another, that after buying here they would grow old together here.
And, that’s exactly what they did, putting down deep roots, a gazebo, gardens and even ponds, in this beauty spot on the Wild Atlantic Way, between the colourful villages of Eyeries (main pic, above),and Allihies, and which they first visited in 1975.
But now, aged 85 and 83, Hennie (Hendrick) and Maja (Maria) also think it might be time to uproot, before they get much older and especially as they have great-grandchildren back in the Netherlands whom they love, but find increasingly hard to get to visit over and back several times a year as they been able to do up to now.
So, with admittedly heavy hearts, they are selling home and hearth, boat and a well-kept 1997 Toyota Picnic people carrier, and possibly even more as they get ready for a move to a slightly easier life, and with less travel hassle, especially after the covid years.
What they are selling now, via local agent JJ O’Sullivan is a far cry from what they bought: they are leaving a 3,900 sq ft dormer home, with wide dormer windows - like two startled eyes - up in the expansive roof, with large first floor rooms, plus a basement with stores, for wine, and an extensive pantry of dried goods, tins and jars, pickles and more.
It’s all quite Dutch, to Irish eyes at least, and certainly is a long way from what they bought originally, described as “an Irish two-storey cottage with lots of holes in the walls, floors and roof,” in 1976, a year after Maja’s first visit.
They first came for three wet weeks in the summer of 1975, with two teenage children in tow: Hennie had been here on his own before, fishing, and despite the rain Maja “fell in love with the countryside of Ireland, specifically Coulagh Bay on the near doorstep," recalls one of their grandchildren.
A campsite owner told them there was lots of land for sale, but they laughed it off and said they “weren’t that serious.” They were more serious a year later, buying the leaky cottage and then over a 10-year period they visited and revisited, and with the help of friends, relatives and locals they first built themselves a large garage to live in when they were there. Next followed the two-storey house, seen here, and have called it their home in Ireland ever since.
Later, after retiring from their jobs at home in Utrecht they continued their work, and in the garden, creating two ponds, two quite substantial glass and aluminium greenhouses, then a second, smaller garage and more.
But, what goes up has to be maintained and, given there’s 2.7 acres here, that’s a good deal of work for 80-something, they readily admit/ Do they want to sell their home at Cahirkeem?
Absolutely not, but it’s no longer a matter of choice, a grandson says, adding “the time has come to admit to themselves they are getting too old to keep living this way and to move back to the Netherlands permanently to spend the rest of their lives living near their family. They wish whoever buys their property as much joy and happiness as they’ve had here, over those wonderful 47 years.”
Auctioneer JJ O’Sullivan is charged with finding just the right buyers, and guides the substantial home, with all of its back-up buildings and lovingly crafted gardens and ponds at €795,000, with its views over Coolough Bay and the mouth of the Kenmare River, within a short walk or a boat tow walk of a pier/jetty and small inlet at Trevaud Beach….for anyone who also opts to buy the ‘97 Toyota and Hennie’s five-metre fishing boat.
: Go Dutch.
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