Charming chocolate-box cottages countrywide

Cottage Livingtakes a look at six different cottages on sale around the country

CO WATERFORD €625,000Known locally as the Traveller's Inn, Sleepy Hollow in Kilmeadan Co Waterfrod is a chocolate-box pretty thatched cottage. Originally built in 1600 but redeveloped in the 1990s it sits on half an acre and the River Dawn flows along its boundary.

The asking price for the four-bedroom 167sq m (1,800sq ft) house - approached via a sweeping gravel drive - is €625,000. Agent Property Partners Fogarty says that some of the outbuildings - a thatched structure and some sheds - could potentially be converted subject to planning permission.

Reception rooms include a sittingroom with a solid-fuel stove and beamed ceilings and a pine kitchen with a Belfast sink. There is also a conservatory area, a utility room and a bedroom on the ground floor.

On the upper floor, off the landing with a vaulted ceiling, there are three bedrooms, the main one having a shower en suite and access to a large timber-decked balcony with views of the countryside. Outside there are landscaped mature gardens, a patio and a Barna shed.

Sleepy Hollow, Kilmeadan, Co WaterfordThatch cottage dating from 1600 with four-bedrooms on half an acre Agent:Property Partners Fogarty

DUBLIN 16: €590,000:A PRETTY end-of-terrace cottage-style house on Whitechurch Road in Rathfarnham, Dublin 16 is for sale by private treaty through Douglas Newman Good at €590,000.

The three-bedroom house is situated at the end of a quiet slip road beside Taylor's Lane within easy reach of Marlay Park, and of Rathfarnham shopping centre.

There is off-street parking to the front and a large patio-style garden to the rear that has a pond and an outhouse with electricity.

The brick and granite-fronted house has an interior of 98sq m (1,060sq ft) that includes a good-sized livingroom with open fireplace and a timber beamed ceiling.

A slightly larger kitchen-cum-diningroom has a country feel, with space to seat a crowd in the centre of the room.

The first of the bedrooms is on the ground floor, along with a shower room, while upstairs are two spacious double bedrooms.

657 Whitechurch Road, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16
Cottage-style three-bed Agent:Douglas Newman Good

CO WEXFORD: €650,000CIÚNAS DÉ is a four-bedroom stone-built house on Clonee Lane, Camolin, Co Wexford at the foot of the Sliabh Bui mountain which comes with the unusual addition of a contemplative hut on its 0.6-acre grounds.

The owner, Annelies Heemskerk, came to Ireland from the Netherlands on holiday in 1998 and liked it so much she decided to move here.

She bought the house from a religious order, spent two years refurbishing it and has run regular retreats from it. Sherry FitzGerald O'Leary Kinsella is asking €650,000. Among the rooms downstairs is a lounge with a flagstone fireplace and an exposed stone wall, a kitchen/diningroom with a handcrafted oak kitchen, oil-fired Aga, and a scullery with a Belfast sink which is plumbed for a washing machine and dryer.

The main bedroom is at this level and has an en suite with a cast-iron bath and a double shower. There is also a workshop at this level. Upstairs are the remaining three bedrooms, with literary names like The Brontë Room, and a shower room.

Ciúnas Dé , Clonee Lane, Camolin, Co Wexford
Refurbished four-bedroom house on 0.6 acres Agent:Sherry FitzGerald O'Leary Kinsella

GREYSTONES €1.55MA DORMER bungalow redolent with all the green charms of its location in The Burnaby in Greystones, Co Wicklow, has come on the market through Lennox Estates with an asking price of €1.55 million.

Old Kasper dates from the 1920s and is deceptively spacious, with a quirky layout including a curving corridor.

It has four bedrooms and two bathrooms, including a modern en suite and dressingroom. One of the bedrooms on the first floor also has a livingroom.

The living areas on the ground floor are both spacious and comfortable and include a generous sittingroom, an adjoining sunroom and a lovely old diningroom with wooden beams.

One of the main features of Old Kasper is its outstanding gardens which catch the sun all day long. The gardens have a huge mixture of shrubs and trees which give it maturity and colour.

The house is within a few minutes' walk of the Dart, making it ideal for commuters.

It is also close to the wide selection of shops and restaurants in Greystones.

Old Kasper, The Burnaby, Greystones, Co Wicklow
Dormer bungalow with a large garden Agent:Lennox Estates

CO KILKENNY €425,000THE ROWER in Ballinunnery, Co Kilkenny is close to the Rower village and less than 10km from Inistioge. The three-bedroom cottage is on the market though PN O'Gorman Ltd for €425,000.

Set on 0.75 of an acre the accommodation includes a sittingroom with timber floor salvaged from a nearby country house and exposed cut-stone walls, a kitchen with a solid fuel Rayburn and a mezzanine currently in use as a study. Also on the ground floor is a utility room and a bathroom with a rolltop bath.

Upstairs the main bedroom is en suite. The courtyard is bound on one side by cut-stone outbuildings which have potential to be converted into additional living accommodation.

The Rower, Ballinunnery, Co Kilkenny
Three-bedroom cottage on 0.75 acres has exposed cut-stone walls and outbuildings with potential Agent:P N O'Gorman Ltd

CO CORK €590,000A REFURBISHED AND extended 200-year-old cottage in the heart of Ballyhoura walking country is for sale through DJ Hayes Co Auctioneers at €590,000.

The five-bedroom house at Kilclooney, Mitchelstown, Co Cork, still has its own original stone chimney which is a double-sided fireplace, one serving the kitchen and one the diningroom.

This space has lots of light from its many windows, double doors and skylights, while the exposed rafters give an open airy atmosphere.

The new section is deceptively spacious as it has three bedrooms downstairs with one bathroom, a toilet and a very large sitting room.

Upstairs there are two bedrooms and a bathroom. The open-plan sittingroom holds the stairs which opens into a vaulted ceiling with large skylights and handsome beams.

The extension to the old house is in a U-shape creating a courtyard which is a sun trap and can be accessed from all living areas through solid wooden double doors.

The sweeping driveway opens into landscaped gardens which blend with the many mature trees. The dwelling is surrounded by six acres of good sandstone grazing land ideal for horses.

The property is serviced by its own private deep well which supplies spring water and is located on a quiet country cul-de-sac, three miles from Kildorrery village and eight miles from Mitchelstown with spectacular views of counties Tipperary, Waterford, Cork and Kerry.

Kilclooney, Mitchelstown, Co Cork
Five-bedroom 200-year-old cottage on six acres Agent:DJ Hayes Co Auctioneers