Tasty fruits of the loom at €365,000 Weaver's Cottage and shop in Co Kerry

Restored stone cottage and accompanying business unit are an attractive living over (or next to) the shop option

Sun, 08 Oct, 2023 - 00:00

Trish Dromey

Kilbonane, Co Kerry
€365,000
Size	122 sq m (1313 sq ft)
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	2
BER	C3

The owner of Weaver’s Cottage at Kilbonane on the Kenmare Glengarriff Road is very glad she didn’t heed her bank manager’s advice 41 years ago when he suggested knocking it down.

Any new property she might have built to replace the tumbledown stone cottage wouldn’t have been anything as interesting or pretty as this red and cream traditional one which has become quite an identifiable local landmark and has, over the years, attracted high numbers of passing tourists.

Originally from the UK, the owner trained in textile design in Cornwall before moving to Ireland with her loom in the 1980s. “I had travelled the Kenmare Glengarriff Road years earlier and loved it – when I came back on a holiday and saw the cottage I knew it would be perfect for a weaver’s shop.” “Locals told me that, in the 1800s, it had been used as a canteen for the workers digging the road tunnels in the mountains,’ she says, noting that some locals didn’t hide the fact that they thought she was out of her mind to buy this strange shaped, falling-down cottage.

The biggest obstacle facing her wasn’t the dilapidation but the fact that it didn’t have running water or indeed, any source of water at all. “This was solved when a kind neighbour offered water from a mountain stream which could be piped to the property,’’ she says, explaining that five years later the availability of a council water scheme provided a more permanent solution.

Working with her loom to pay for upgrades to the cottage, she began taking commissions to design and weave colourful woollen rugs. In the beginning, her renovated weaver’s cottage was small , having a room which served as a workspace cum shop, a tiny kitchen and sitting room as well as a bathroom and two bedrooms.

By late 1990s her business was successful enough to allow her to think about extending. Around that time she switched from weaving rugs to knitting colourful sweaters, hats and scarves.

“We get a lot of passing tourists including Americans and Europeans but have always had local customers too,’’ says the owner,. Earlier customers included 1950s movie actor Hurt Hatfield who brought along Hollywood visitors including Angela Lansbury.

Using her profits she built on a large kitchen extension with a third bedroom and a second bathroom overhead.

A short time later she moved her shop out of the cottage into a detached building at the front.

And, 41 years after she didn’t knock the cottage, she has turned it into a three-bed property which has modern comforts such as double glazing and oil fired heating as well as a great deal of traditional character.

Quoting a guide of €365,000,Ron Krueger of Engel & Voelker’s says it’s attractive and cosy and that the location, just 10 minutes from Kenmare, is especially scenic. He thinks the shop would make an excellent home office.

Inside Weaver’s Cottage, there’s a long sitting/dining room with a timber panelled ceiling. An open tread staircase leads to two bedrooms and a bathroom on the first floor.

Beside the sitting room is a kitchen diner added on 20 years ago.

Across the gravelled courtyard from Weaver’s Cottage is the Weaver’s Shop - a detached building with a loft workshop, a traditional style timber-beam ceiling and a vibrant display of woollen goods.

Outside there’s parking, decking and a long garden with gravel paths and pretty flowers. From the gardens and upstairs windows there are views of the Caha mountains.