Exotic hideaway by the sea

A beautifully positioned Irish holiday home overlooking Kitchen Cove on the north shore of Dunmanus Bay in West Cork is to be offered for sale on the international market.

Joint agents Michael Daniels and Reilly Klein are seeking in excess of £1.25 million for Ahakista House, a spacious Georgian house on 4.5 acres of mature gardens in the village of Ahakista. It has been owned for the past five years by a Swiss family who are relocating in Co Cork. According to Michael Daniels, Ahakista House occupies one of the best waterside settings in west Cork. It is right on the edge of Sheep's Head peninsula, one of the rugged peninsulas jutting out into the Atlantic. Mr Daniels describes Ahakista as a sailor's paradise. "You can moor your boat at the end of the garden. It is a particularly calm area, sheltered by Owen's Island, allowing fishing boats to remain on moorings all winter."

Over the last century, the various owners of Ahakista House have availed of the subtropical conditions to develop wonderful gardens with exotic trees and shrubs including mimosa, tree fern (reputedly the oldest in Ireland), weeping birch and myrtle. There are flowing lawns everywhere, filled with rhododendrons, hydrangea and camellias running all the way from the stone-flagged sun terrace to the sea wall. The fast flowing Shakista stream rushes through the gardens from the high ground protecting the property. For families who like to entertain, there is a two-bedroom guest house over a stable block in the grounds. Ahakista House is believed to have been built as a hunting lodge in the early part of the last century. It has three reception rooms, five bedrooms and three bathrooms. The house has double glazing and central heating.

The most popular room is probably the library, a comfortable room lined with bookcases which has a splendid vista. The large, south facing bay window has uninterrupted views over the gardens and the coastline to Mizen Head and Mount Gabriel. The drawingroom and diningroom also have fine proportions and are focussed on Dunmanus Bay. The house has a well-fitted kitchen as well as a laundry and sunroom downstairs. At first floor level, there is a spacious main bedroom with en suite bathroom. The house is about five miles from Durrus village, 10 miles from Bantry and 60 miles from Cork city.

Who is likely to buy it? Michael Daniels says the last house of this quality on the coast was bought by a London businessman who commutes regularly to west Cork. This time round, he thinks Ahakista might be acquired by a successful Dublin businessman looking for a "stylish hidewaway".