The owner of this four-bedroom house at Ballyvislane, about 3.5km from the Co Clare village of Liscannor, says its proximity to a secret viewpoint at the Cliffs of Moher known to locals “has been really lovely for anyone who visits”.
The property, constructed in 2005 and designed to make the most of maritime views through large sheets of glazing, was purchased by its owners in February 2020 and became their lockdown project.
The bones of the house were already there, so they repainted, restained the polished pine flooring and replaced the carpets. It is now a lovely home with relaxed but elegant interiors, and its all-white palette allows artwork and indeed the views to take centre stage.
The locality on the Wild Atlantic Way has also been part of the Burren and Cliffs of Moher Unesco Global Geopark since 2011, due to its importance as a karst region with its cliffs, caves and unique geology, whereby underground rivers meander beneath porous limestone rocks.
An open-plan kitchen/dining/livingroom with a vaulted ceiling and a solid-fuel stove is the hub of this generous 227sq m (2,443sq ft) house. “We really love the light and how spacious it feels,” says the owner, and despite being indoors for part of the year due to inclement weather “you still feel very connected to nature”. Indeed, the owner describes looking at “four different weather events” taking place simultaneously as she looks out over Liscannor Bay on the day of our chat.
A simple all-white kitchen with wooden countertops is served by a huge American-style fridge, so catering for guests will never be an issue, and there is a good-sized utility space.
The property has four bedrooms and the main is en suite with a good-sized walk-in wardrobe.
A real bonus is the 25sq m loft room upstairs, adjacent to a further 13sq m of storage. Currently set out as a playroom, it offers huge scope as a home office or a gym or television room to complement the open-plan layout downstairs.
Owners engaged local landscaper Siobhán Toner as they wanted to optimise the view to the front, while still retaining privacy and shelter from the prevailing winds. “Siobhán had free rein in the choice of plants as not everything will thrive in this sometimes harsh beauty,” says the owner. The garden now has a paved patio, accessed from the living space, with a huge lawn where children can play.
Its location, views and condition are its real selling points. Four minutes down the road is Clahane, a favourite swimming spot for the family, who take dips after supper on long summer evenings. Because of its orientation, sunsets over the bay are to die for, with Mount Brandon, across the bay in Co Kerry, visible on clear days.
Owners are sad to leave, but are moving for family reasons and have placed their C2-rated house on a large, elevated site for sale through DNG O’Sullivan Hurley, seeking €495,000.
