If all you want for Christmas is an affordable Kinsale home, check out this farmhouse on 22 acres 

YOU’D have to think this cute like  farmstead outside the rarefied town of Kinsale is cheap as chips when you look at the trend of voraciously priced homes in the neighbourhood.

It’s almost a weekly occurrence now to hear of some millionaire/billionaire hot shot parachuting in to gobble up yet another of coastal Kinsale’s trophy homes, paying whatever it takes to secure an under-utilised bolthole.

The house featured here though, in Tisaxon More (in truth, ‘tis askin’ less) is affordable for a far wider cohort of buyers, as it’s 5km outside town and is without the waterside perch so beloved of the superyacht owners that occasionally glide into Kinsale.

This particular property, with its attractive red front door, has all the signs of a traditional farmhouse because that’s what it is. It was once part of a much larger landholding, but the size reduced over the years as portions of the land were sold off. What remains now is the house and 22 acres and buyers are presented with a number of options.

Selling agent John Hodnett of Hodnett Forde Property Services says a buyer can opt for the entire lot – house and 22 acres – for a price between €650,000 and €700,000. The option is there too to buy the charming two-storey property on 0.75 acres (o.3ha), with a guide of €225k-€250,000. Or you could bid for the three large fields that make up the 22 acres, or one of those three fields, or whatever combination or permutation that tickles your fancy.

 All you have to do is turn up at the auction in the Kinsale Hotel on December 15 at 3pm and take your chances against everyone else, with the lots going to whoever can dig the deepest.

Mr Hodnett says the land has been leased for a number of years by the family who are now selling up, and that they had “occupied the house periodically”, spending time there on holidays.

“The land is suitable for any crop, it’s top quality, and at the moment it’s part tillage, part pasture. It has dual road frontage north and south of the boundary,” he says.

Individual fields measure 6.5 acres (2.63ha), 5.83 acres (2.35ha) and 9 acres (3.63ha).

The detached house measures 1171 sq ft (108 sq m) and consists of a sitting room, kitchen and store on the ground floor, and three bedroms and a bathroom overhead. It’s flanked by mature, broad-leaved trees and there is plenty scope to extend. 

Some modernising and upgrading will be required, as well as improvements to insulation as the current energy rating is a ‘G’.

Mr Hodnett says the house is on “a nice elevated setting” with views of the water from upstairs rooms.

Launched to market in recent days, Mr Hodnett says interest is “very strong” “both local and international, in the land and the house and the overall package”.

“It’s a great opportunity to acquire an attractive property in a much sought after region of West Cork,” Mr Hodnett says.

The farmstead is cfive minutes by car from Kinsale town and Cork City is 30 minutes away.

VERDICT: This close-to-the-coast charming farmhouse is priced at a level that holds the door open for ordinary mortals hoping to live in/near Kinsale. You never known though who might turn up at the auction on December 15.