City to Country: Victorian-era Dublin 4 cottage or seaside views at €575,000 West Cork home

Variety is the spice of life with these city and country properties, says Trish Dromey

8 The Island Inchydoney Cork

Irishtown, Dublin 4
€475,000
Size	60 sq m (646 sq ft)
Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	1
BER	C2

Although this pretty two-bed Victorian property at 7 Dermot O’Hurley Avenue in Stella Gardens may be small, with just 60 sqm of living space, the owners have made excellent use of every square centimetre.

7 Dermot O'Hurley Stella Gardens Dublin 4

An end-of-terrace house with an enviable Dublin 4 address, the property has been comprehensively renovated since 2019.

The owners extended, modernised, fitted a stylish new kitchen and a contemporary bathroom, and also let in more light with additional windows and patio doors.

One of the plantation shuttered windows at the front of the property belongs to a modern sitting room with a stove, and the other, to a bedroom used as a nursery. Off the living room there’s a door to a bathroom decorated in duck-egg blue metro tiles and fitted with a standalone bath.

A sliding door at the rear of the living room leads through to a stylish kitchen diner which has shaker-style dark blue units, a centre island and roof lights.

Beyond it is a bedroom, added as part of the extension, which like the kitchen, has a set of double doors opening onto a patio garden at the rear.

Seeking offers of €475,000, Andrew Allen of Allen & Jacobs says the location is within strolling distance of Ringsend and Sandymount villages and is excellent.

“It’s also within easy reach of the city centre and of the Aviva Stadium, the IFSC, and Grand Canal Dart station,” he adds.

VERDICT: A small but very well-located and stylish property.

Inchydoney, West Cork
€575,000
Size	142 sq m (1,528 sq ft)
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	3
BER	B

The standout feature at 8 Inchydoney Island is its large front balcony from where you can observe the changing tides on one of Ireland’s best-known beaches and also watch the surfers and the swimmers.

The three-bed house is part of a development of 13 detached holiday homes which Con O’Neill of Sherry FitzGerald O’Neill says are rare enough to the market.

Finished to a high standard and decorated by an interior designer, it’s been a family holiday home for its UK-based owners since it was built in 2006.

The main living space is on the upper floor and includes a kitchen/dining/ living room at the rear with pale-grey granite-topped units. Behind the apex window at the front is a sitting room with a vaulted ceiling, a contemporary electric fire, and doors opening onto the glass balustraded decked balcony overlooking the beach.

Downstairs there are three bedrooms, including two with en suites, as well as a bathroom and a utility room.

“The location is superb and the views of Inchydoney’s blue flag beach are magnificent,” says Mr O’Neill, noting the property is exceptionally well maintained and has a B3 BER.

On the market with a guide of €575,000, it’s located 400m from the beach and 5km from Clonakilty.

Mr O’Neill says that although a few of the properties on the island are now owner-occupied, the majority of the interest is coming from buyers in search of holiday homes.

VERDICT: A modern detached holiday home in a very fashionable spot.

Annestown, Co Waterford
€300,000
Size	107 sq m (1,151 sq ft)
Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	1
BER	Exempt

What better place to experience the joy of rural living than at a renovated thatched cottage with vegetable gardens, apple trees, and broadband near the Waterford coast?

Listing the two-bed property and its 1.7-acre site at Dunabrattin near Annestown with an AMV of €300,000, Barry Herterich of Property Partners says it’s charming and idyllic.

The 19th-century cottage has been carefully renovated over a six-year period by current owners. “They rewired, put in a pellet stove, teak double-glazing, underfloor heating and engineered timber flooring and also insulated the floors and ceilings and reinforced the attic with an RSJ beam,” reveals Mr Herterich.

Accommodation includes a sitting room with a pellet-burning stove in its single-nook fireplace as well as a kitchen/diner with blue, shaker-style units and a timber-panelled ceiling.

Dunabrattin Annestown

The cottage also has a bathroom, a utility room, two bedrooms, and an attic room. Alongside it is a converted stone outbuilding which has a kitchen/living room, a bathroom and a loft bedroom.

In the gardens which surround the cottage, there are mature trees and lawns and several outbuildings including a steel-framed workshop. On the far side of the site, there’s a 40ft polytunnel, an orchard, and some vegetable plots.

Set to sell by online auction on September 28, it is within a five-minute walk from a sheltered sandy beach at Kilmurren Cove and is 14km from Tramore.

VERDICT: Idyllic enough to attract city buyers to try out a new lifestyle.

Crecora, Co Limerick
€575,000
Size	196 sq m (2,010 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	3
BER	C2

Options to enjoy countryside living without moving too far from Limerick City include this four-bed detached house on almost half an acre of grounds at Logavinshire in Crecora.

Located just 13km, around 15-minute drive, from the city, it’s on the market with a guide of €575,000.

Selling agents O’Connor Murphy auctioneers say the setting is idyllic and rural, with views of green fields and the hills of Clare in the distance, while the house, which was built in 2000, is tastefully presented and modern.

The front of the property features a timber-floored living room with a fireplace, and at the rear, a generous-sized split-level kitchen/diner which opens out into a sunroom at the side.

The kitchen has pale-grey country-style units with a centre island and a Belling range cooker.

Behind the front bay window there’s a TV room and, beyond it, a utility room and guest WC.

Upstairs the property has a bathroom with a Jacuzzi bath and four bedrooms, including one en suite.

There’s also a room which is used as a home office, but shows in the original plans as a shared bathroom.

Outside the sunroom there’s a large area of wrap-around decking which auctioneer Declan Barry says is perfect for entertaining.

Accessed by electric gates, the house has a well-sized parking area at the front as well as a large expanse of attractive lawns at the rear.

VERDICT: A spacious trade-up in green and pleasant surrounds.