New build grafted onto old cottage sees €750k West Cork home making the best of both worlds
![New build grafted onto old cottage sees €750k West Cork home making the best of both worlds New build grafted onto old cottage sees €750k West Cork home making the best of both worlds](/cms_media/module_img/7658/3829288_8_articlesmall_114_20_20-_20_20Downeen.jpg)
Views down to Roscarbery's lagoon and N71 from Downeen new-build with old cottage retained. Agent David Busteed guides at €750,000
Rosscarbery, West Cork |
|
---|---|
€750,000 |
|
Size |
195 sq m (2,085 sq ft) |
Bedrooms |
3 |
Bathrooms |
3 |
BER |
B |
This West Cork property last appeared in these pages back in October 2014, when it stood as an 800 sq ft cottage on organic grounds by a stream, on the edge of Rosscarbery village with a €147,000 price tag, and loaded with potential.
![Old meets new, now..... Old meets new, now.....](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7658/3829336_7_articleinline_132_20_20-_20_20Downeen.jpg)
Well, the site’s potential yielded something entirely in a different league for comfort, space and finish, as is the price tag: it’s now €750,000.
![and 'then'. This was what was here a decade ago and 'then'. This was what was here a decade ago](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7658/3829339_7_articleinline_unnamed_20_2_18.jpg)
But, that’s for an entirely different property, which includes (almost as an afterthought) the original charming stone cottage under its green corrugated steel, backing gable-end onto a meandering country lane from Rosscarbery to pretty-as-a-picture Mill Cove.
![](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7658/3829342_7_articleinline_146_20_20-_20_20Downeen.jpg)
It now comes with a far gable-end addition of a contemporary-designed
!['Then' again 'Then' again](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7658/3829396_5_articleinline_unnamed_20_1_25.jpg)
2,080 sq ft two/three-bed dormer home, with B2 BER — a far cry from the reflective and ‘honest’ G BER the original cottage had come for sale at.
Agent David Busteed of Bandon-based Sherry FitzGerald Brennan Busteed is selling this well-set ‘new-meets-old’ accessible coastal home, in turnkey condition, for its buyers of the mid-2010s who got planning for the new addition onto the earlier dwelling, rightly keeping the original rather than just doing a demolition job. The end combo result roots the mix to the locale’s already-rich built and archaeological heritage.
![Mill Cove, an inlet about two nautical miles east of Glandore Mill Cove, an inlet about two nautical miles east of Glandore](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7658/3829348_7_articleinline_MILL_20COVE.jpg)
![Tower at Downeen, on a private 122 acre farm sold last year Tower at Downeen, on a private 122 acre farm sold last year](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7658/3829351_7_articleinline_Downeen_20Rosscarbery_20122a_204.jpg)
They include one Downeen castle left stubbornly and precariously balanced on a tiny island rock/cliff outcrop, likely to date to the 16th or 17th century and reached for a period by a wooden bridge over the wild sea, roiling beneath.
In fact, the small stream actually cuts through a site portion and here (perhaps as a faint and distant recollection of the old wood bridge to Downeen Castle?) the property’s owners have put a wooden ramp or bridge to a reflective seating area, graced by a yellow garden bench.
![](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7658/3829354_7_articleinline_123_20_20-_20_20Downeen.jpg)
Their work here also includes some rock/site excavation on the other, southern side off the dining area, where there’s now twin, outdoor patios/terraces fringed by rock, and further screened by stainless steel and glass balusters, reached by double doors from the kitchen and again from the dining/living area alongside.
![](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7658/3829357_7_articleinline_102_20_20-_20_20Downeen.jpg)
The redesign/new build has a lot of different roof profiles and floor plan kinks, with a slight internal split level, plus some slight additional ceiling heights, with part-vaulted ceilings. The main en suite bedroom above has a gable window for views to the Rosscarbery lagoon by the N71 pier road and glimpses of the tides between the village and the Warren strand.
![](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7658/3829360_7_articleinline_145_20_20-_20_20Downeen.jpg)
In addition, there’s oil central heating (via radiators) and solar panels, plus triple glazing helping get the new build to a B2 BER, as well a utility and guest WC, whilst overall condition and presentation is “as new ”, according to Mr Busteed.
![](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7658/3829363_7_articleinline_165_20_20-_20_20Downeen.jpg)
NOT entirely “as new’ is the original, retained older dwelling, under its preventative green corrugated steel roof with Veluxes, and serving as a privacy buffer of sorts between the contemporary home and the wider world outside on the quiet road to Mill Cove, a safe berthing place for small craft, and its pier.
!['Then' 'Then'](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7658/3829366_7_articleinline_unnamed_20_3_15.jpg)
![Rosscarbery's lagoon. Picture: Andy Gibson. Rosscarbery's lagoon. Picture: Andy Gibson.](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7658/3829369_7_articleinline_AGRosscarbery_203-06-2023.jpg)
Apart from putting down her own roots for over 15 years here, she also planted an organic, wild garden with fruit and vegetables, appreciating it as a haven for wildlife.
![Mix includes old house, storage and kennels Mix includes old house, storage and kennels](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7658/3829372_7_articleinline_164_20_20-_20_20Downeen.jpg)
The mix here includes the 2,100 sq ft two-/three-bed B2-rated home,preserved original c 800 sq ft cottage (once thatched, before being corrugated?, useful stores/kennels, and a Steeltech shed standing alone in the lawns.