The pictures alone convinced a UK businessman to buy a Donegal cottage with just one phone call!
“It’s the most idyllic place I’ve ever seen in my life,” Rhys Kiff says of his Fanad home.
“All my Dub friends kept saying why Donegal, and not Kerry or Cork, and then I’d show them the pictures and they’d say ‘OK, wow’!”
Kiff was born in Wales, has Irish ancestry, and worked and lived in the UK up until 2020, when he was moved to Ireland by the company he worked for.
“I came to work in Dublin just after Brexit. I was renting in Ballsbridge. But before long I thought I needed something outside the city. The place was too small, and I needed space and somewhere to relax at the weekend.”
With the option to work remotely presenting itself, thanks to Covid-19, Kiff began to trawl websites for a country abode. He came across a cottage at Ballure on the Fanad Peninsula and fell in love straight away.
“I bought it without actually going to view it. I saw it online and I rang the agent and she thought I was a lunatic when I put in an offer without seeing it. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t see it because of the restrictions in place at the time, but I didn’t care. I trusted the agent and thought there was no way she was going to scam me.”
The timing was good because lockdowns were lifting and work was more flexible so Kiff was able to put his plan into practice and escape from the city as soon as he could.
Sadly for Kiff, the taste of Donegal life is coming to an end. He is once again on the move for work, this time to Oxford, which means he won’t get to visit Fanad much anymore.
“I was considering using it for my retirement but I’m not there yet and I don’t want it sitting empty.”
The two-bed traditional cottage dates back to the late 19th century and has a floor area of 850sq ft. It sits on approximately 41 acres, with direct access to a private cove.
The auctioneers, Rainey Estate Agents in Letterkenny, is seeking €325,000 for the property.
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