A cottage, a studio and a boat are on offer at the River Cottage in Rathsnagadan, outside Inistioge, in Co Kilkenny.
The property was purchased by Maya Homburger and Barry Guy in 2011 for €360,000, according to the Property Price Register.
Homburger, a baroque violinist and composer, and Guy, a double bass player, were based in Ireland for a decade prior to their time at River Cottage, where they ran the Barrow River Arts festival at Borris House in Carlow for six years until the funding ran out.
Homburger says they added insulation, a new roof and triple-glazed windows along with the usual, plumbing, electrics, new kitchen and new bathrooms, to what the property is today; a beautiful renovated cottage, which was designed to take advantage of its position overlooking the River Nore.
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Extending to 120 sq m (1,292sq ft) with three bedrooms and two bathrooms, the property is heated by infrared panel heating and has two Swedish stoves. Despite this, the cottage’s Ber is E2 – the same as it was prior to renovations with insulation, new windows and roof.
Opposite the cottage, on the rural country lane, lies a studio measuring 43sq m (463sq ft), which has a bedroom, a kitchen, a shower room and a most attractive sun deck allowing riparian views of the Nore.
The property also has permission to construct a further gallery/studio/workshop to a most impressive design by architect Mark Guard, whose penthouse creation in Paris got him shortlisted for a Stirling Award, which is akin to the Booker Prize but for architecture.
Extending to 200sq m (2,153sq ft) over several levels, “it will have an infinity feel to it and all you will see is the field and the river,” says Homburger. Nestled in the Nore Valley, with an old famine pier two minutes down the road, it was originally intended as a place of peace and quiet where Guy could compose, while she could practise across the road.
Homburger says she and Guy used to take the Rib, or rigid inflatable boat, up the river to Inistioge, where they would have dinner before returning home by boat.
The Rib, which can take up to four people and runs on a quiet electric motor, resides in a storage unit under the deck and has a trailer. The couple are throwing it in with the sale of River Cottage.
They now divide their time between Homburger’s native Switzerland and a new home in Greece: “When you get that bit older it’s nice to have guaranteed weather,” she says, but they will miss their bolt-hole on the Nore “as it is just such a romantic place”.
Their turnkey Irish holiday home is now surplus to requirements, so they have placed it on the market through estate agent PN O’Gorman, seeking €495,000.
