In pictures: Charming triple whammy in lovely Bantry priced at €395k

Lazy Acre, Bantry, Co Cork

Bantry, West Cork
€395,000
Size	116sq m (1,249sq ft)
Bedrooms	2 + 2
Bathrooms	1 + 1
BER	G

Lazy Acre outside Bantry is something of a triple whammy. Priced at €395,000, the property includes not just a sensitively restored and charming farmhouse, but also a converted barn with more than a whiff of Swiss ski chalet off it, as well as a restored stone outhouse that is used as a library-cum-home office.

The site that hosts the trio is just shy of an acre - hinted at in its name, Lazy Acre, which is an informal term for a smaller-than-standard acre that can take more effort to cultivate: As the garden is a lush 0.7a, don’t be fooled by the suggestions of leisureliness that the name suggests. It took a great deal of hard work to get it to the level it is at, but the good news for the next owner is that they will get to laze about.

An Austrian, in the 1990s, figured prominently in the reshaping of Lazy Acre in to the property it is today. The main farmhouse — a stone-built two-storey premises, dating to 1840 — was inhabited by the same family for the bones of a century before the Austrian arrived.

He extended it, and converted two old outbuildings. A large barn with a balcony has the feel of a ski-lodge, while a second, stone-built outhouse has a ground floor ‘library’ and an overhead mezzanine, used as a home office and accessed via external steps. It’s typical of old farm buildings used to house animals at ground level, with feed or storage overhead.

Ten years ago, the Austrian sold the property in Shandrum Beg, Bantry, to Dublin sisters Kate Smyth and Marney Fischer Smyth, who were relocating west, in search of a fresh start. Lawyer Marney had returned from the US after 30 years, following the untimely death of her husband in 2015, while Kate was already living in Carrigaline.

“We decided to throw in our lot together and make a big change,” says Kate. ‘Big’ doesn’t quite capture it. Two years after buying Lazy Acre, the sisters made a spur-of-the-moment decision to also buy Bantry Bookshop.

“I went in there with my loyalty card to buy a book and the co-owner said the card wouldn’t be much good to me, as the shop was closing. Myself and Marney went around the corner for a chat and came straight back and had a discussion with the owner.”

They bought the bookshop and ran it for seven-and-a-half years. During that time, the ground floor of the smaller outbuilding at Lazy Acre doubled as a ‘library’. Overhead, Marney had her office on the mezzanine.

The layout of Lazy Acre worked very well for two adult women who enjoyed each other’s company, but who also valued their personal space. While they shared the main daytime accommodation in the original farmhouse — kitchen, dining room, large reception room — they had their own separate sleeping quarters.

Kate had the large, upstairs, dual-aspect bedroom in the main house — more suite than room — with views towards the Coorycommane Mountain range, while Marney had the equally generous, first-floor bedroom in the converted barn, complete with vaulted roof and French doors to a south-facing balcony and views towards Bantry Bay. Both buildings include a bathroom/shower room and a smaller, second bedroom.

Lazy Acre was in good shape when the Smyth sisters bought it. The Austrian had tiled the ground floor, but not before installing underfloor heating, which is a considerable comfort in the winter.

The sisters carried out some upgrades, too, replacing an old, freestanding kitchen with new fitted units, installing new bathrooms, and upgrading all of the windows.

None of the upgrades disturbed the traditional farmhouse’s inherent charm. Internal, lime-rendered walls are complemented by exposed, cut stonework and quality woodwork.

The generous living room is the essence of rustic elegance, with its low, panelled ceiling, deep sills, exposed, timber lintel beams, and stove set into a traditional hearth.

Exposed stone forms a feature wall in the living room, as well as in the upstairs bedroom and in the downstairs dining room, which also has a glazed wall overlooking the garden. You can reachthe dining foomt from the country-style kitchen, designed for siblings who liked to cook for themselves and for guests. A velux keeps it bright and light-filled.

The converted barn has its own charm, not least because of its generous proportions, light levels, and south-facing balcony. It also accommodates a store room, utility, shower room, and garage/workshop. Joint selling agents, Andy Donoghue, of Hodnett Forde, and David Donovan and Michael O’Donovan, of Savills, say the garage area could easily be turned into an open-plan living space, if a buyer wanted to create a self-contained unit, with a bedroom already upstairs.

Indeed, some of the people who came to view Lazy Acre last week included siblings considering buying it jointly as a holiday home for both their families, with two separate, but neighbouring, units within a single compound.

The restored outbuilding that sits in the middle of the two larger properties also has potential to become living accommodation.

It already has a pot-bellied stove, while the mezzanine could become a bedroom. On the ground floor, French doors and the existing layout lend themselves to an open-plan arrangement.

All told, 1,250 sq ft Lazy Acre is a sweet little West Cork homestead, enclosed by electric gates and surrounded by carefully cultivated gardens, greatly enriched by the sisters.

There are lots of nooks to sit out in, including the low-stone ruins of an earlier cottage and a baby pink decking area tucked into an upper corner of the garden.

Views are towards the Beara Peninsula, Bere Island, and Hungry Hill, and the Sugarloaf mountain near Glengarriff.

“It’s a different world. You just switch off,” Kate says. Their decision to purchase a robot mower was “life-enhancing”, she says.

After 10 years, and having sold the bookshop last year, the pair are on the move again. “We’re always open to new things. It’s what keeps you going,” Kate says. Family circumstances are bringing them back east.

“We’ll be sorry to leave, it’s been such a rich and textured part of our lives. It’s been great fun, too. It’s quite an international community, and the bookshop added another dimension. It’s a very dynamic place and there is always something going on,” Kate says.

That ‘something’ ranges from the annual West Cork Literary Festival (the bookshop was involved) to the West Cork Chamber Music Festival, to various arts festivals, to the Masters of Tradition, a trad music festival that kicks off next Wednesday under the artistic direction of fiddle maestro Martin Hayes.

Sailing festivals (Calves Week has just wrapped) are also par for the course, along with all manner of water activities, while golfers are catered for, too.

Given the quality of the property and the richness of the location, it’s not surprising that the agents have had a strong turnout at open viewings.

Mr Donoghue says there’s a “wide net of interest”, from families seeking to jointly purchase a holiday home; to a Dutch couple with Irish connections who live in Germany “and want to get out of the heat”, to US buyers with interest in an Irish bolthole.

While Lazy Acre is a private site, it’s not remote, and there are three or four homes close by, with a mixed owner profile. Both the coast and the village of Ballylickey are a short spin away, while Bantry town is a c10-minute drive.

The journey to Cork city is approximately one hour and 20 minutes.

VERDICT: An idyllic enclave, perfect as a permanent base for a retired couple who want to settle in West Cork and enjoy having family/guests over, or as a holiday home for extended families, or for a buyer looking for both a home and potential rental income, or a house hunter looking for a home with a workshop/studio.