City to Country: €385,000 Schull home or three-storey Georgian house on Waterford's South Parade

Buyers can choose from spacious family homes across Cork, Waterford, Kerry and Wexford, writes Trish Dromey

Teachers Residence Dereenalomane Schull

South Parade, Waterford city
€565,000
Size	201 sq m (2,165 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	5
BER	Exempt

This fine three-storey over-basement Georgian house at 33 South Parade in Waterford has been turned back into the elegant family home that it was originally meant to be.

“When the current owners bought the property 15 years ago it had been divided into apartments. Since then, it’s been turned into a superior lifestyle home which blends period charm with modern functionality,” says Deirdre Phelan of Property Partners Phelan Herterich, quoting a guide of €565,000.

The modern comfort levels were achieved by the addition of a kitchen extension, five bathrooms, double glazed windows (sash ones at the front), while retained period features include its fanlit doorway, staircase, and architraves.

At entrance level the semi-detached house has a living room with a high ceiling as well as a guest WC. The basement, which was once the servants domain, has a sitting room and a WC/ utility room and study used as a potter’s studio. At the rear there’s a contemporary kitchen-diner with one fully glazed wall.

The first floor has two en suite bedrooms and the top floor has two more bedrooms and a bathroom. The house has a railed garden at the front and one with vehicular entrance and off street parking at the rear.

“The location — close to the restaurants, shops, and schools in the city centre — is excellent, and the address is sought after,” says Ms Phelan.

VERDICT: An elegant, spacious property in a neighbourhood which has once again become highly fashionable.

Barntown, Co Wexford
€385,000
Size	110 sq m (1,184 sq ft)
Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	2
BER	G

Despite being called Tumbledown Cottage, this old farmhouse at Barntown in South Wexford has incredibly thick stone walls and is in absolutely no danger of collapse.

A very traditional property which possibly dates from sometime in the 1800s, it’s been turned into a quirky and interesting two-bed holiday home.

Current owners added an extension at the rear for a sitting room and also put in a country style kitchen, upgraded the bathrooms and added additional ceiling beams.

Keane Auctioneers, who have listed it with a guide of €385,000, say it has immense charm and the views from the elevated one and a half acre site are amazing.

“You can see out across the forested countryside to distant mountains,” says auctioneer John Keane.

Inside the cottage, all the ceilings are beamed and all the walls including the incredibly thick ones, have been painted white.

Accommodation includes a timber floored dining/living room which has an inglenook fireplace with a stove as well as a kitchen with cream units, There’s also a bathroom, a utility and a large sitting room at the rear. A ladder stairs leads up to two bedrooms and a bathroom.

Fitted with double glazing and electric heating, the property has a G BER. Outside there’s a two bed chalet as well as mature well planted gardens.

Located at Shelmalier Commons, Tumbledown Cottage is around 8 km from Wexford town and 20 km from beaches at Curracloe and Rosslare.

VERDICT: Scenic, secluded and authentically old.

Aghadoe, Co Kerry
€355,000
Size	132 sq m (1,420 sq ft)
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	2
BER	C3

The €355,000 guide price on this modern three-bed bungalow at Curragh, Aghadoe, near Killarney is making it attractive to young couples hunting for a new home, while the location is one which appeals to buyers who want to relocate to Kerry.

That’s according to Tadgh Gallivan of Property Partners Gallivan, who also expects viewers to include retirees looking for a single-storey home.

Built in the early 2000s, the property is on a site of over half an acre, has 132sq m of living space and has been freshly repainted inside and out in preparation for the sale.

At the front, the bungalow has a pine-floored living room with a timber fireplace and at the rear, a tiled kitchen-diner with cream units. In addition to this, there is a small utility room, a bathroom, and four timber-floored bedrooms, including one with an en suite and another with a walk-in wardrobe.

In the very sizable garden, there’s a long gravelled driveway, a patio, and a lawned area bounded at the side by tall trees.

“It offers privacy and tranquillity but is just a 10 minute drive from all amenities in Killarney,” says Mr Gallivan, noting that the Aghadoe location, within a short drive from several primary schools, is much sought after.

Located next to a woodland area, the bungalow is a little over 1.5km from the Aghadoe Heights Hotel and 6.5km from Killarney.

VERDICT: Attractive to quite a diverse range of buyers.

Schull, West Cork
€385,000
Size	128 sq m (1,385 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	2
BER	E1

Much has changed in the world since the Earl of Bandon gifted this property at Dereenalomane near Schull and Ballydehob to the Church of Ireland in 1889 to accommodate the local school teacher.

But 134 years on, the house still has much of its original character and — despite having long since been extended, renovated, and turned into a private family home — it’s still called the Teacher’s Residence.

On the market with James Lyons O’Keeffe auctioneers, it’s a pretty blue and white property which, thanks to a two-storey extension, now has four bedrooms and over 128 sq m of living space.

Seeking offers of €385,000, auctioneer Colm Cleary says the current owner added the extension 18 years ago, replaced the roof two years later, and in 2012 replastered the exterior.

At the front of the house are a living room with a fireplace and a dining room with a stove. Open plan with the dining room is a narrow kitchen with blue units and a walk in pantry. To the rear there’s also a utility room while the upstairs has two bathrooms and four bedrooms including one fitted out as a home office.

Outside there are well-tended gardens with pink rose bushes and hydrangeas, and a blue cast iron garden gate which looks original. 

“To the southwest there are scenic view of countryside and Mount Gabriel,” says Mr Cleary. The property is located 9km from Schull and 4km from Ballydehob.

VERDICT: Perfect for a buyer in search of a West Cork lifestyle.