For many Dubliners, Brittas Bay in Co Wicklow means family-friendly holidays near a great beach with the distinct advantage of being only a short spin down the N11. As well as the busy caravan parks and small developments, there are detached older holiday homes usually hidden away and often with great gardens while still being close to the sea.

Sallymount Cottage is a three-bedroom cottage near the dunes and owned by a Dublin couple, two medics, who bought in 2000. They sympathetically extended the old cottage and decorated with a relaxed beach style and the single-storey house with 114.7sq m (1,235sq ft) is for sale through Ganly Walters for €375,000.

When they bought, their children were young and they were able to spend weekends and summers there. “We were looking for somewhere with a certain amount of privacy,” says the owner. “The dunes are just a walk away and really when you’re down there, looking out the window, you could be in a remote part of Connemara and it’s just 45 minutes from our home in Dublin. That was really important to us.”

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The children are now grown up, some are abroad, and the family find they spend less time there, hence the sale.

Limed floorboards

Sallymount Cottage is an example of how a small house can be extended without losing any of its original charm. When they bought it, the cottage needed work, as well as a list of the usual basic renovations – damp-proofing, new windows, rewiring and the rest – it had a flat-roofed extension that had had its day. They replaced that with a pitched roof extension and then, having seen how the house worked, four years later they added another extension to create the large living area.

Now the entrance – a set of French doors – opens into that bright livingroom with its limed floorboards and white painted tongue and groove panelling on the raised ceiling. “What we wanted were rooms that followed the sun, that’s why there’s a wrap around deck, again to follow the sun throughout the day,” the owner says.

That look in the livingroom defines the signature style in Sallymount Cottage and it is used again in the eat-in kitchen which has pale-blue painted timber units against one wall, while an exposed brick fireplace, fitted with a woodburning stove, on the opposite side of the room suggests that this isn’t just a summer house, it can be used all year round.

Indeed, new owners could easily be people buying it as a permanent home. However they will most likely keep the bright colour scheme – sea blues with painted timber – as it gives a lovely seaside feel.

Both the living room and the eat-in kitchen are bright with several windows overlooking the maturing gardens. “The garden was always a great play area for the children,” she says, “there’s no point in being precious about it, they have to have space to run around and kick a football.”

There are three bedrooms, two doubles (one en suite) and a single – all decorated in the blue and white, beach-inspired look, described by the owner as “New England style”. The dunes are a 500m walk away.

ONE TO CONSIDER OUT WEST

If you fancy a serious seaside renovation, a south Connemara coastal cottage has the very unique offering of a sandy beach and a rarely-used public quay at the end of the garden.

Keeraunmore in Carraroe, Co Galway, with views to Casla Bay and the Aran Islands, was once home to the late sculptor Edward Delaney, who created a sculpture park on the lands to display his creative works. At one point the cottage was extended for family living and the original cottage was retained as a studio.

For years Delaney worked and lived here and there were many notable visitors down the years including Gareth de Brun, actor John Hurt, director John Boorman, musician Paddy Maloney of the Chieftains, poets Seamus Heaney and John Montague, artists Bobby Ballagh, Michael Farrell, Charlie Brady and Michael Mulcahy among others.

A serious refurbishment is required, but the potential for a one off getaway in an unrivalled coastal setting makes it a tempting prospect.

The cottage is for sale on seven acres for €150,000 through DNG Martin O’Connor in Oughterard, Co Galway. The entire property stands on 21.5 acres, and the balance of the lands are available by separate negotiations.