Enjoy the idyllic beauty at Duck Cottage with endless sandy beaches on this small island just minutes from Donegal.
This historic cottage is one of just 14 homes nestled on a beautiful unspoilt island which sits half a mile from Donegal. An original coastguard cottage, Duck Cottage sits beside the shore on Rutland Island and comes with its own jetty.
Glorious sandy beaches, abundant wildlife, and rare wildflowers combine to make Rutland an exclusive hideaway in The Rosses. Duck Cottage will suit people with a love of the coast and the countryside and its own deep water mooring allows easy access to other islands and the mainland.
The island features historic ruins, a main harbour and landing stage. Extensive marram grass meadows are grazed by rare breed cattle and sheep. There are fabulous sand dunes and wonderful golden sands stretching around the island’s Northern, Southern and Western shores.
Wonderful Wildlife
Sea Otters, wading seabirds and rare orchids and butterflies can be seen throughout the year.
The Islands of Edernish, Innishcoo, Eichter, Innisfree and Inishkeeragh are all within easy reach to view dolphins, basking sharks and seals.
The surrounding sea offers an abundance of mackerel, pollock and even tuna for the fishing enthusiast. For those unfamiliar with boating, a local boatman will help get you to and from the island and the boat journey to the Island from the mainland takes just two minutes. There are no roads or mains water on Rutland, but pure Donegal rainwater is harvested from the cottage roof for showering and washing up. A solar panel system helps heat the hot water. Built in the early 1800s and modernised in recent years, Duck Cottage offers spacious, family accommodation which includes a spectacular upstairs loft-style lounge offering views of the sea, nearby islands and the fishing boats and ferries heading for Arranmore.
There is also a family kitchen/dining room, a family room, bathroom, wet room, four bedrooms and a utility room. The kitchen is at the heart of the home and looks out over the sea and gardens. While traditional in style it feels fresh and modern and is finished with wood panelled walls and oak flooring. The units are beech and there is a large oak dresser, painted larder cupboard and a fireplace with a sitting area. No country kitchen is complete without an Aga and a lovely cream one takes pride of place here.
Cosy Comfort
A cosy family room is also full of character with a cast iron multi fuel stove and old pine glass-fronted bookcase and oak flooring. Open stairs lead from this room up to the fourth bedroom in the eaves. The bathroom is spacious and modern with an electric shower over the bath and tongue and groove panelled walls finished with oak flooring. A corridor beside the kitchen leads to two double bedrooms and a large utility room, plus a modern wet room.
The main bedroom has dual aspect windows offering stunning views of the slipway and the sea. The utility is a great space with beech worktops and a Belfast sink. It houses a further fridge, a Zanussi dishwasher, Samsung washing machine, Hotpoint tumble dryer and a Sharp microwave/cooker. There is a Victorian pulley rack system for drying clothes and lovely slatted wooden blinds on the windows. This room leads through to a back patio and the further into the garden.
Upstairs the loft lounge is a beautiful boathouse style room with painted wooden floor and white vaulted beam ceiling. French doors on the sea facing wall open to a balcony with stainless steel railing offering spectacular views to Donegal and a variety of local islands. At the other end, a window offers island views. This room is kept cosy in the winter with a Morso multi-fuel stove. Outside the property enjoys views of the sea from three sides and the large fenced garden features a natural rockery for shrubs and alpine plants.
Secret Slipway
The slipway allows direct sea access when the tide suits and provides parking for boats. There is also an alternative deep water mooring. A stone outbuilding for garden equipment contains a small freezer and a further tall fridge freezer and it connects to a storage area for kayaks and sailing dinghies. A wooden garden shed in the rear garden is useful for water sports equipment and fishing rods. There are two 5,000 litre rainwater harvesting tanks with paper filter, ultraviolet filter and demand pump. A gate leads out to “Duck Street” – a unique street of stone built terraced houses dating to the late 1700s when Rutland Island was an important herring fishery station.
WHERE: Duck Cottage, Rutland Island, Burtonport, Donegal
HOW MUCH: £395,000
WHO TO CONTACT: Templeton Robinson, tel 028 90 424 747
