Exploring Ireland | Dream Cottages For Sale | Land Of The Spring Well

the sun might not be shining but it doesn't get much more picture postcard than that does it folks this is the cottage i'm going to show you today with about 1.4 acres of land what a beautiful place hello everyone and welcome back to mossy bottom this is the second episode in my dream cottages for sale series here in ireland where i've lived on my own one acre small holding here in county sligo for the last five years if you missed that first episode then in these videos i visit properties for sale right now at the time of filming which i think have the potential to become small holdings just like mine with an emphasis on self-sufficiency growing your own vegetables keeping livestock chickens ducks pigs sourcing your own water and energy providing yourself with fuel to heat your home and perhaps even generating a small income to pay for the things which you can't provide yourself and if you did miss that first episode then go back and take a look because in many ways it could not be more different to the cottage and land that i'm about to show you and i think that makes for a really interesting comparison in terms of what you get for your money i'm going to give you a tour inside and out talk you through exactly what you do get the land the outbuildings the potential uses the location the facilities on site and those lacking and of course the price this cottage with over an acre of land is for sale right now but if after watching this video you are interested then you'll need to move quickly because it's going to auction at the end of this month october okay let's jump right in first of all the location so we are once again in county litrum but this time in the far north of the county just five minutes from the border with cavan and this part of litrum is very mountainous and very forested more so than the south of the county in fact the cottage has mountains on one side to the east and loch allen a huge lake on the other to the west the current owner of this property is from wales and she told me that the area very much reminded her of her home and having hiked up snowden a few times myself i can see why it really is a beautiful area the corey strand a famous lakeside beach is about a 10 minute drive away and there are hikes up the mountains to the east with spectacular views but the flip side of that is that this property is quite remote there are no large towns in the immediate vicinity carrick on shannon being a good 30-minute drive by car and sligo to the west is about an hour though admittedly those routes and i've driven them a few times are some of the most spectacular in this part of ireland so i'm going to talk a little bit about the history of the cottage when we go inside but first of all what exactly do you get and how much is it well you get a stone cottage which in its original form we think is around 250 years old so much older than mine the cottage was fully restored 20 years ago having fallen into ruin prior to that in its current condition it is a livable home with three bedrooms though one admittedly is on the small side so let's say two in a box room you also get a separate stone workshop which is currently being used for animal housing and storage but was restored at the same time as the cottage 20 years ago and structurally is in perfect condition there's a further small stone outbuilding to the rear of the cottage which again has been restored and is used for housing a pair of extremely large pigs which i shall introduce you to in due course there are a few other interesting structures which we'll get to and it's worth noting that this property has mains electricity in the cottage and both the outbuildings it has a septic tank it has a rainwater collection system with a large storage tank though that does need maintenance and modernization and it has over an acre of usable land i'm going to explore that talk about the soil type its condition how it's been used and what i think it would be suitable for later in this video first though the price this property is currently for sale for 85 000 euros and just like the last property there are compromises not least the remote location but for the right person or family who's comfortable living remotely you're getting one heck of a lot for your money and it's beautiful especially when you consider this viewing was in mid-october on an overcast afternoon i wish the sun had been shining like it is today just imagine it in june when the flowers are out and the birds are singing oh and yes if you're wondering it is south facing like almost all cottages here in ireland the windows might not be very big but they knew which direction to point them in before we take a tour of the cottage this video is sponsored by the lovely team at skillshare which for anyone who still doesn't know is an online community for learning through educational video courses and they cover just about every subject under the sun i've mentioned in previous videos courses on gardening woodworking canning art nature making life changes and in this video i want to talk briefly about this course sustainable living basics simple steps to make an impact by catherine kellogg sustainability goes hand in hand with the lifestyle that i lead and the philosophy that i have and if you are inspired by or interested in moving to a cottage like this yourself then the chances are it's an important thing to you too but you don't have to live on a small holding to care about the environment this fantastic course gives practical steps on shopping habits reducing waste and other aspects of a sustainable life which anyone can implement no matter their situation skillshare has thousands of courses and over 8 million members if you want to learn online with content created by experts working in their industry then it's definitely the place to go finally the first 1 000 of my subscribers to click the link down in the description we'll get a one month free trial of skillshare so you can start exploring your creativity today okay let's go the first thing to note is the exceptional stonework these walls are as straight as the day they were made and that's because the stone has been shaped and laid to such a high standard if i compare this to my own cottage the difference is like night and day there is no question that this building has been made by professional masons not have a go farmers not that i have anything against have a go farmers i kind of feel like one myself to be honest and in terms of its history local knowledge suggests that this building was once in the 1800s a school there would of course have been many small school houses just like this in rural areas the windows are double glazed now 20 years old and although they're pvc they do fit the original aperture proportions there is nothing i think quite as soul-destroying as discovering a beautiful old stone cottage with huge modern windows that look totally out of proportion to that building in one fell swoop all the external character is lost but not so in this cottage it definitely looks authentic because it is personally i would replace the windows like for like with wooden ones the roof was re-slated when the cottage was restored and is in excellent condition the only thing that may need replacing is the fascia boards that support the guttering which are looking a bit tired and may be beginning to rot in places moving inside you can immediately see the charm of this little house the ceilings are low but not too low unless you're seven foot tall there are original features an exposed stonework everywhere you look but don't get too attached to the furniture or decoration because that will be going with the owner there's a wood burning stove in the living area though it's a tad on the small side i think for the space i'd be tempted to install a bigger one with a back boiler and fit a central heating system at least downstairs because apart from two wood burning stoves on the ground floor the only other heat source is electric box heaters which are very expensive to run one of two main reasons i think that the current owner is leaving we'll get to the other later these old cottages definitely suffer from damp the foundations and cavity walls of a modern house just aren't there to keep the moisture out so a constant and reliable heat source especially through the colder wetter months is essential but there are solutions you just need to factor that into your budget there's a galley kitchen which is basic but adequate and behind that to the rear of the house is a small extension with a utility area bathroom and separate toilet all i'm told in working order though i didn't get around to trying them out i have to admit going upstairs the first thing you might notice is that it feels quite dark well it was an overcast day and quite a few of the bulbs needed replacing including in this room so that is somewhat misleading although it is definitely true to say that this cottage like most here in ireland is probably best suited to people who like cozy softly lit spaces the type of person like me who upon entering a pub always seeks out the darkest coziest looking alcove to hide away in that in my opinion is the atmosphere you want when buying a 250 year old stone cottage in rural island but admittedly it's definitely not for everyone there are exposed beams and original features throughout as well as hardwood floors that they definitely need re-waxing and to be honest the walls need repainting too the owner has cats and dogs and the decor is looking tired but most of that work is superficial and can easily be done by unskilled hands it's also not something you'd need to do prior to moving in because there's plenty of space here and you can work on one room at a time so that's the cottage what about the outbuildings well the main outbuilding is this workshop and the chap who restored this property 20 years ago not the current owner i should say was a skilled joiner who used this space i would imagine to make everything for the restoration it doesn't look very nice right now but clean away those cobwebs fit new lights repaint the walls maybe change the external doors and you've got a usable workshop or storage space with sound windows and a sound roof that doesn't leak however the guttering does need a bit of attention as does the rainwater collection system which you can see here is connected only to the workshop thankfully it rains a lot in ireland i never thought i'd be thankful of that and the rainwater tank is huge but personally i would connect the house to that tank too to make sure the water never run out especially if there's more than one person going to be living here so while it's great to have your own water source and i should say there is no mains water connection here this rainwater collection system is going to require some maintenance so factor that into your budget too the other outbuilding is much smaller but restored at the same time with the same galvanized roofing windows and concrete base and these are the two lucky fellas who live in there right now i bet my two cooney kuni pigs wish they had a stone building to live in what luxury and the great thing about stone structures of course is they store and release heat so it'll never drop below freezing in here unlike it does in my caravan sometimes and in the summer they have the opposite effect keeping the space cool during those constant irish heat waves so what about the other structures which i mentioned earlier well opposite the second stone outbuilding there is a shed and covered space it's admittedly looking very tired at this point but most of that timber is sound so restored and repainted it could make excellent animal housing perhaps for rabbits chickens or ducks and then there's a wood store which at the moment has become a lean to for this pink wheelbarrow and a home for two rabbits but if i bought this property i would most certainly return this structure to its original intended use because there is plenty of wood on site to harvest and process and what people often forget is that timber takes two years of drying to season before it can be burnt for heat otherwise it's going to release too much smoke and steam i have a huge wood store at my property which was formerly used to store peat and is absolutely essential if you want to produce your own fuel finally in terms of structures there is this rather small greenhouse which like much of this space has been well and truly loved by those porcus i'm told the pigs managed to destroy it by using it as a scratching post pigs will definitely do that it could potentially be restored but personally thinking about it i'd probably replace it with a large polytunnel on the acre of land speaking of which let's talk about just that so first the elephant in the room that mud which i'm sure you've all noticed it surrounds the cottage and the outbuildings and it's the second main reason i think that the current owner wants to move but as someone who also lives in the northwest of ireland i know from my own small holding here that this is just what happens when you combine a clay-rich soil like we have with rain and heavy footfall the owner allows her pigs to wander around these buildings i should have said the pigs in the room shouldn't i or the pigs in the yard but that is why this has happened the solution just like with my own paths at mossy bottom is to let it fully dry or scrape it off put membrane down and then gravel the entire area around those buildings you could also pour a concrete slab though i don't think it would be as in keeping with the age and authenticity of the stone buildings you might at the same time want to add a drainage channel running from the wettest areas around the cottage down into the ditch along the road in my first year at mossy bottom the driveway in and out was pure mud my car even got stuck there in the winter so i scraped it off laid membrane dug a drainage ditch by hand and then covered with gravel and in spite of some very wet winters it has never flooded since or indeed been boggy and i did that entire thing with a wheelbarrow and shovel shifting about four or five tons of gravel myself if i was to do it again i'd definitely hire a mini digger for a couple of days but this problem can absolutely be solved and in order to enjoy living here especially during the wetter months i think it's a necessity for any new owner in terms of cost with a mini digger doing the labour yourself maybe a thousand to fifteen hundred euros the rest of the land is surrounded by mature trees it's very sheltered which is perfect for growing food we're also at 80 meters above sea level here and because the land is on a slope it doesn't flood you can see the odd rush growing but that's likely because of compaction from pig trails and when you see the size of these chaps you'll realize why they're saddleback pigs which is a huge breed the owner tells me that their mother was a whopping 30 stone in weight that's almost 200 kilograms or 420 pounds and i'm told they get even bigger than that too you can see there are semi-mature apple trees growing here which do yield a small harvest every year and an awful lot of trees around the perimeter and on the land itself which could be thinned or coppiced for firewood i am comfortably able to produce enough firewood from my own acre of land to keep my stove burning through the winter every year so with a small chainsaw and splitting axe and of course the fuel store to season it in you can absolutely produce your own heat from this land right now the land is quite treacherous to walk on and chaotic it does need tidying up fencing off from the buildings and frankly not having two colossal pigs turning it into a mosh pit every winter but it would be perfect for chickens ducks even goats maybe even a small pony too but it is just over one acre and compared to the 31 acres at the previous cottage in this series you know that's a lot less you're certainly not going to be able to keep cows or large horses here without that land being completely destroyed if you want to do what i do though here at mossy bottom you really couldn't ask for more and did i mention the aspect the slope that is because it's south facing perfect okay it's time to give this cottage and land a self-sufficiency score just like the last one focusing on food water warmth shelter access and income first of all food so you've got an acre of usable land which is has a south-facing aspect and doesn't flood i produce about 60 of the food i eat here at mossy bottom potatoes root vegetables brassicas beetroot spinach peas beans corn lots of different things and all of them grow outside add a polytunnel and you can grow even more with small livestock like chickens ducks maybe even a couple of goats for dairy he might even push that number up higher i'm gonna give it four out of five for food the potential is huge and the simple truth is unless you're keeping large heavy animals like horses you really don't need that much land on a small holding next water well it doesn't have mains water but it does have a pretty robust rainwater collection system that's 20 years old but that will need some initial investment and then regular maintenance 4 out of 5 for water next warmth honestly with this many trees around the perimeter a ready-made wood store and two wood burning stoves in the cottage which are in active use i'm gonna have to give it a five for warmth next shelter this is where things are very different to the last cottage that i featured in the first episode there there was no ready-made home it required work and planning permission before you could move in here you can move straight in and you've got a workshop as well that's watertight and has electricity as well as a few other outbuildings certainly the cottage needs a refresh and perhaps modernizing a little you might want to fit a shower in that bathroom i know i would but it doesn't need any structural work and it is ready to move in so overall i'm gonna have to give it a five out of five for shelter next access well the road connects directly to the cottage although it's steep if my nissan micra can make it up there and it did then trust me any car can so you're never going to have access issues to the cottage itself and that road doesn't flood the land however is on a slope and needs paths installing as well as areas graveling like around the out buildings for that reason i'm going to give it four out of five for access i should add as well there's only one other house further along that road it's not a through road it's a dead end and in the three hours or so that i was there not a single car passed by it is extremely quiet though i have to admit it doesn't have that lovely sense of isolation being at the very end of a lane which mossy bottom has and which i fell in love with here finally income and this is where um the property does fall short it would make a great holiday home or a rental cottage but if your intention is to live in it which i think it deserves um then you're quite limited with ways to make money you could certainly sell produce that you grow but there's no busy road to put a stall on so you'd have to drive into town or sell at farmers markets or in shops there also isn't really enough space for guest accommodation nor is there enough land to grow things on a more commercial scale like you maybe could have at the last property but there is 4g internet access i checked so if you are able to work from home remotely the connection is there i'm going to give it a two maybe a three out of five for income so who would this cottage and land suit well i think it would suit someone who wants a ready-made picture postcard home without having to do building work with enough land to grow food and keep some small animals without starting a business there is work to do here cleaning painting graveling repairing tidying but most of that work is definitely within the scope of someone who's just handy or willing to budget some extra funds to pay for labour if you do happen to be a plumber and know how to install a central heating system a shower and maybe to maintain a rainwater collection system then all the better because that's the main skill that you would need as a tradesperson but i think this place would best suit a small family a couple or even an individual who are comfortable living remotely perhaps can work through the internet and don't need to be too near a town and now the part that i love if i bought this cottage and land what would i personally do with it well i said in the last dream cottage video that if i bought it you'd probably never hear from me again because there was so much to do there but i think in this one you probably would because it really would lend itself to everything that i'm doing here at mossy bottom with the added advantage of having a finished home to live in i'd definitely gravel around the buildings pretty quickly because that would bother me i'd probably introduce some goats and perhaps turn the smaller stone outbuilding into a dairy i'd coppice and trim a lot of those trees for firewood without compromising the shelter that they offer to a vegetable garden and i'd probably utilize that south-facing cottage roof to install solar panels as an energy source the biggest difference i think is that i'd film a lot more videos inside sat in front of that cozy wood burning stove and i might even let moss in too of course i would okay folks so endeth our tour of dream cottage number two if you are genuinely interested in viewing this property then you can send a mail to the email address listed down in the description and i will forward it on to the owner i make no commission for a sale so this has been my genuine unbiased view as always in these videos remember if you have a dream cottage for sale here in ireland anywhere in the country or perhaps somewhere you're contemplating putting on the market and you think it could feature in this series that i make then get in touch because i'd love to hear from you thank you as always for watching subscribing and supporting the channel from me from moss and from the many pigs and cats and other animals that featured in this video take care and bye for now [Music] oh i was born in a quaker town where folks work good and hard for the ones they loved and got above each day they punched their car and when evening came back home again they'd rest while we say tis a hard old life but for kids and wife [Music] another day [Music] oh hello everyone and oh god don't start that there's no need for it hello everyone and welcome back to mossy bottom this is the s shut up please but you don't have to live on a small holding to care about the environment this fantastic course gives practical steps on shopping habits reducing waste and other aspects of a sustainable life which anyone that was a bit too much fellas

Channel: Mossy Bottom

Views: 819,837

Keywords: irish cottage, cottage ireland, dream cottage, chocolate box cottage, cottages, cottage for sale, cottage for sale ireland, ireland cottages, buying land ireland, buying property ireland, smallholding, buy a smallholding, moving to ireland, moving to a cottage, moving to a smallholding, going off grid, off-grid ireland

Id: 5UClkwK-Kwc

Length: 27min 39sec (1659 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 19 2021