With right business model, tourists would flock to these Sheep's Head holiday apartments

The buyer could live nearby in an architect-designed home which is part of the €725,000 sale package

Sun, 06 Aug, 2023 - 16:00

Catherine Shanahan

Sheep's Head, West Cork
€725,000
Size	155sqm+104sqm +58sqm+65sqm
Bedrooms	5
Bathrooms	4
BER	B2 (main house)

THERE’S an intriguing property at Letter West, Kilcrohane, on magnificent Sheep’s Head peninsula, that represents an interesting business proposition, and is not just simply a holiday home.

Actually, it’s a bundle of four homes: a 155 sq m detached, modern build with a B2 energy rating, and what was a large, traditional farmhouse. This farmhouse, bought by its Swiss owner in the 1990s, evolved over time into three little cottages/apartments, with energy ratings that range from E2 to a D1. The western cottage is the biggest, at 104 sq m, and has two bedrooms. The middle (58 sq m) and eastern cottage (65 sq m) have one bedroom apiece and all three have open plan living.

These separate but conjoined units, with a passage to a built-on shared utility, developed into Letter East Holiday Apartments, successful rentals, until the pandemic hit. Post-covid, the owner didn’t revive the business.

The entire kit and caboodle, including the main house, is up for sale now, as a bundle, with a guide price of €725,000.

While it’s quite a specialised offering, selling agent Denis Harrington of Harrington Estates says it could suit someone with a business idea that involves rental income. As Sheep’s Head is a hikers’ paradise, it could work very well for trekking weekends, or, as Mr Harrington suggests, as a “specialist retreat or centre for meditation/recovery”.

The magnificent scenery, with a view over Dunmanus Bay, from one of the most elevated spots on the peninsula, would certainly lift the spirits.

“There’s the possibility of mountain trekking/self-catering holidays, or maybe as a holistic therapy retreat. Pre-covid, the cottages were very popular with sporting groups and trekking was a vibrant business model,” Mr Harrington said.

Separate to the cottages is the owner’s main residence, an architect-designed, contemporary home, built in 2006, with front-facing views from the sun room over Dunmanus Bay, and surrounding peninsulas.

Downstairs living is open plan and there’s a mezzanine overhead, which serves as a bedroom, with room to do more. The main home is part of the package.