Co Galway: €675,000: Writers often live in out-of-the-way places, somewhere tranquil where inspiration comes easy. After 13 years, Galway-based writer and broadcaster John Quinn is reluctantly selling his romantic thatched house by the sea at Kilgolgan and moving into town.
Keane Mahoney Smith is quoting €675,000 by private treaty for Otterbrook, which was built around 1910 and looks like a John Hinds postcard.
Otterbrook's location on the water's edge and its traditional chocolate-box appearance will appeal to buyers. The house is on an acre at the end of a boreen, bounded by stone walls and with views across to Brandy Harbour, an inlet of Galway Bay. Kileenaran is the townland, Clarinbridge is down the road and Galway city about 20 minute's drive. The house was extensively reconstructed in the early 1980s and kept well up-to-date by the Quinns over the years. Beams have been replaced, floors newly tiled and the bathroom has had a recent revamp. The garden is a delight - with a grove of trees, a small brook frequented by otters and carpets of blue gentians migrated from the nearby Burren.
The Shannon reed thatch has recently had its annual "touch up" and is in good condition. Inside, the rooms have a quaint cottage look without sacrificing the mod cons.
A huge kitchen with beamed ceiling has a Liscannor slate floor, red oil-fired Stanley range which provides central heating and a separate food preparation area through an archway. Beams also feature on the sitting / diningroom ceiling, complemented by a dramatic inglenook fireplace and polished timber flooring.
The new bathroom is decorated with terracotta and white tiles, with twin wash basins and panelled bath. Also at this level are a conservatory and two small double bedrooms with wardrobes. Upstairs, a second sittingroom with panelled ceiling has a large picture window for the view and a deep dormer in an alcove. Three further bedrooms are off the landing, all with pine ceilings.
In the garden, subsequent owners have established a good vegetable plot, flower borders, lawn and paddock, with a stand of ash, alder, birch and willow and a stream.
