Converted church with views

West Cork: €565,000 The American gallery owner with a premises in Glengariff has decided to move closer to her workplace, leaving…

West Cork: €565,000 The American gallery owner with a premises in Glengariff has decided to move closer to her workplace, leaving behind an exquisite home near Ballylickey in west Cork.

Harrington Estates is quoting €565,000 for Snave Church, which was sold by the Methodist congregation in the early 1990s to the Cork buyer who carried out the original conversion.

The two-bedroom cut-stone house sits on two acres on Ballylickey's Golden Mile, metres from the pier and Bantry Bay shoreline.

Everything is in excellent order, with a gingerbread exterior and an understated decor which showcases the Gothic-style architecture.

Mature gardens and the topography of the site provides good privacy from the road, across which is the beach and sea.

Planning permission has been granted for a detached guest cottage, storage building, biocycle waste treatment system and entrance improvements.

A pretty porch with benches and a half door opens straight into a sittingroom with tall arched windows on two sides.

This room has exposed beams, a stone fireplace and bookshelves.

The main living area has been retained as a lofty open-plan space.

A country pine kitchen has tiled worktops and a door to a downstairs bathroom.

Sitting down 10 to dinner with ease, the vast dining area benefits from tall arched windows and a cathedral ceiling with Velux windows providing extra natural light.

A staircase climbs to a mezzanine floor where there is a laundry room and cosy den. A stained glass window with gold passion flowers is a special feature of this time-out room.

Off the upper landing is a shower room with antique tiled floor and timber-panelled walls. Bedroom one is on an open gallery overlooking the living area. A second bedroom looks out on the water and bedroom three has two windows to the front and side.

The gardens are a delight, still colourful with late-flowering roses, sheltered by deciduous trees and a perfect vantage point to enjoy views over Bantry Bay.