The owners of 2 Scilly Hill, overlooking Kinsale harbour, Des Nangle and his wife Donna, knew what they were doing when they bought back in 2019.

Or, rather when ‘he’ bought, as he made up his mind to buy it when visiting family back in Ireland, Donna was back home in South Africa at the family’s home and was told of the deal by phone.

But, it was everything they wanted as an Irish base for them and their two now-adult children (Des Nangle’s old family home on the Model Farm Road, near the famed former Nangle’s rose nursery, is currently for sale, following the passing of Des snr).

Once they put down their own Kinsale roots, and returning regularly like swallows from the southern tip of Africa where Des worked in IT, they kind of raised the roof — they put a big, zinc/pressed metal clad box big dormer up top instead of sloping ceilings, for more headroom and the best of the harbour, marina, and town views from aloft.

Apart from toning down some of the interior décor of the pretty-in-pink upgraded fisherman’s ‘cottage’ (it had featured here in 2019), the roof move was the most significant thing they did to No 2orey rear extension.

Not only did they appreciate the Scilly setting and water panorama, they got on so well with the local builder (Barry Wright Construction) that they decided to engage him in a far bigger project a few hundred metres up the hill at Ardbrack, now a major work in progress.

Scilly/Ardbrack consistently gets the strongest house prices in and around bougie Kinsale, and even when places here change hands for as much as €4m, or over €5m, they all get more spending done … as No 2 also did after it last sold to the Nangles. (A new Scilly listing, Prospect Villa, came for sale this week at €5.5m)

Back in ‘19, No 2 made €748,000, a tad shy of its €750,000 AMV with estate agent Ron Kruger of Engel & Volkers who returns now to sell, guiding at €1.35m for the walk-in order, lock up and leave semi-detached home on Scilly Hill.

The Nangles kept the pale rose pink exterior colour of No 2, which also features in the adjacent front garden/viewing perch, along with all the retained original character (such as the whitewashed stone interior wall in the main living room, and Mr Kruger says it’s a premium property thanks to works and maintenance done by the two most recent sets of owners.

It has more than 1,500 sq ft over three levels, with three first floor double bedrooms and family bathroom, and the top floor main suite has that picture window, third bathroom, plus a home office.

VERDICT

: If Kinsale folk got a euro for every time people mention ‘Scilly money’, well they could probably afford to buy here too