Artist's €300k Clonakilty home is a feast for the senses

Artist, writer, and gardener transformed her former West Cork council home by pairing art and soul with an idyllic garden

Approach to 27 Assumption Place, Clonakilty, a uniquely designed townhouse tucked away at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac and surrounded by flourishing gardens. Pictures: Chani Anderson

Fri, 12 Jun, 2026 - 12:26

Caroline Delaney

Clonakilty Town, West Cork
€300,000
Size	67 sq m (720 sq ft)
Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	1
BER	D2

Anyone who has ever swapped a massive tote bag for a sleek little clutch knows how it is: when space is at a premium, every single item has to earn its keep.

Cosy sitting room at 27 Assumption Place, reflects the home’s eclectic and artistic character. Picture Chani Anderson

That is exactly the philosophy behind this beautifully curated, two-bedroom elevated home in Clonakilty. Owned by a painter and writer, both the house and its accompanying gardens are a masterclass in making a compact footprint work beautifully.

While Marie Kondo is often misunderstood as the prophet of bare minimalism, her actual philosophy is much warmer: items should either be useful, beautiful, or ideally both. Step inside 27 Assumption Place, and you’ll see she would highly approve. Far from being sterile or bare, the interior is a vibrant, eclectic haven filled with salvaged, repurposed, and deeply artistic furniture and décor.

27 Assumption Place, Clonakilty, Co. Cork, Pictures: Paul McShane

It’s the same story outside in the garden which hugs the house on three sides — there are indeed a lot of plants but all are ‘earning their keep’ by being beautiful and useful. Just ask the hundreds of bees, butterflies, and birds dipping, droning, and diving here.

The outdoor space is packed with life. There isn’t a square inch wasted and it features lemon verbena, dames violet, staghorn, crab apple, quaking grass, honeysuckle, montbretia, oxeye daisies, buddleja, and hollyhocks.

A particular shout-out for the zepherine drouhin rose — a real ‘old’ rose-scented heritage rose festooned with blooms. All luring butterflies (cabbage white, small blue, painted ladies, orange tip) and birds (mistle thrush, chaffinch, blue tit, wren, bullfinch, and doves) to this glade on an elevated site about 500m from the centre of Clonakilty.

Indoors doesn’t even feel too indoorsy thanks to a good-sized kitchen window that opens like a door — the downstairs rooms are dual aspect so there’s an abundance of light.

The current owner bought this 1950s-built home around a decade ago and set about transforming it: “It had been empty for a few years and wasn’t in great condition. I’ve insulated it and there’s new plumbing and wiring, double-glazing, and new bathroom and kitchen.”

And while the renovations didn’t involve an extension or knocking walls they did include ‘excavating’ blocked up chimney alcoves as charming storage areas.

Other changes included switching to large clear glass panels in the front and back doors. Well, when you’re at the very end of a cul-de-sac and up 16 steps and the house faces onto trees then there aren’t so many worries about passersby seeing in.

The owner is moving on to “another creative project” in the Clonakilty area.

Upstairs the two bedrooms have white-painted original wooden floors and the main bedroom has two windows at the front and a functional chimney. The bathroom sink is mounted on an old Singer sewing machine base.

There are views out over wider Clonakilty, including the spires of churches of three different denominations. And it’s a very quick downhill stroll to the main street with banks, pubs, restaurants, Friday Farmers Market, clothes shops, and more.

“There has been huge interest in this home already we were inundated with calls and a heap of emails overnight too. Of course the styling is the standout — it’s just a lovely aesthetic. It’s very bright and is so close to the town,” say Keith O’Sullivan and Andy Donoghue of Hodnett Forde. 27 Assumption Place is guided at €300k and has oil-fired and back boiler central heating.