A home on the beach in west Cork might be more in reach than you think, with two new properties on the market providing striking options at very different ends of a budget.
At the higher price point comes a home with its own private beach, gardens running to the water’s edge and uninterrupted views of Schull village and harbour – for a cool €1.2 million.
But all is not lost for those without such funds and dreams of a life on the beach, with a former pub in a dramatic location – a 1.75-acre site with sweeping ocean views – just the ticket for a quarter of the price.
Thanks to new regulations signed at the end of February, there is no need to secure planning permission to transform ‘The Old Pub’ at Dunworly near Clonakilty into a home – only vision and financing for renovations on top of the €300,000 asking price.
With the property just across the road from the beach and few other homes in sight, access to the waterfront may as well be private.
The 1,500-square-foot former pub is “a real diamond in the rough,” according to Henry O’Leary Auctioneers and Real Estate Agents, but “the reward for a visionary could be a home where you can have the holiday of a lifetime every day of your life.”
Never before on the market, “it offers an unparalleled opportunity to create your dream home on a huge site” that already has mains water, a septic tank and broadband.
The pub building comprises a hall, lobby, four toilets and two large rooms – both with three windows facing the beach and open fireplaces. The original bar is also still in place – so no need to install one for those who like to entertain.
For those with deeper pockets who are ready to settle in immediately at the sea, in more turnkey condition is the four-bedroom waterfront house at Coosheen, Schull carrying a €1.2 million price tag.
Properties like this, with a private beach including its own slipway and mooring for a boat, don’t come up often in the area, according to Colm Cleary of West Cork Property Ltd.
“For a waterfront property in Schull, because there's so few of them, it isn’t [a high price point],” he says.
The detached house boasts uninterrupted views of Schull village and harbour, just 2.5 kilometres from the village, as its gardens run to the water’s edge.
The house is about 25 years old and has been used as a holiday home, coming to the market for the very first time this month.
However, its site likely has a much longer history. An old stone outbuilding on the property, now used as a storage shed, bears the remains of an old chimney – indicating it may once also have been a home many years ago.
The site also leaves ample room for expansion of the modern house, which currently has two ground floor bedrooms and another two on the first floor.
Mr Cleary says there is a chance it will continue life as a holiday home – or serve as a west Cork escape for someone able to work remotely.
“There's been an awful lot of interest and a good bit of it from overseas,” he said.
“So far, the people who have looked at it have indicated that it would be a holiday home initially.
“Some people have indicated that because they can now work remotely and from home, that they would spend part of the year in Schull and maybe part of the year in their current residence, wherever various people live.”
