A sauna and cold plunge pool in Cork and Kerry, on a headland above the water

The road in decides the day

Many of the best plots in the south-west are at the end of a boreen, a lane wide enough for one car and the stone wall on either side. A crate that reaches the village may not reach the gate. We ask for photographs of the lane, the gateposts and the turning space before anything else, split deliveries into what a small lorry can carry and plan a crane or a telehandler if the site demands it. Crates travel by road from Cork or Dublin, after arriving by sea.

The nearest published Met Éireann 1991–2020 averages are Valentia Observatory in Kerry: 1,646.5 mm of rain a year, a July mean daily maximum of 17.8 °C and a January mean daily minimum of 5.1 °C. Rain on the roof is the design condition, and a mild winter means the plunge pool rarely freezes.

Wind from the Atlantic

The south-west takes the first of every storm. A cabin here faces its glass away from the wind and towards the view where the two do not coincide, takes a flat membrane roof with a deep overhang and stands on a deck that is anchored as well as supported. Fixings are 316 stainless, because the salt reaches everything. A screen on the windward side makes the deck usable on days that would otherwise keep people indoors.

Headland gardens and fuchsia

The characteristic West Cork garden is a headland held together by fuchsia hedgerows, montbretia and stone walls, with the sea close on three sides. The cabin tucks into the lee of the hedge, the plunge pool sits flush in the deck, and a robe hook, a boot tray and a shower stand where they are needed. See garden saunas and plunge pools.

Lodges, hotels and the tourist season

Kenmare, Kinsale, Dingle and Schull have small hotels and lodges whose guests arrive wet and cold. A glass cabin with a view of the water and a pair of pools is a natural fit, and the season is long enough to justify it. The plant room is the part to get right: space, a drain, air for the chiller and a rota that the house staff can follow. See boutique hotels.

The long cable run

Rural plots often have the electrical board a long way from the deck. The heater and the chiller are the two big loads, and a long cable loses power as heat, so the circuit is sized for the run rather than the minimum. Ask your electrician for the voltage drop over the distance, and for the completion certificate your country requires when the work is done.

A headland house, in numbers

A year on a headland

The south-west's best season for a sauna is the one the tourists miss. October to March brings the storms, the dark evenings and the swimmers who go in regardless. April and May bring the first guests and the first warm light. July and August are full; the plunge pool is a convenience, the sea is the star. A house that takes visitors in summer and lives quietly in winter wants a cabin for both rhythms.

Where the south-west bites: four examples

Lodges, B&Bs and the wet-weather guest

The south-west's hospitality sells landscape, and guests arrive in waterproofs. A glass cabin and a cold pool work as an evening attraction in every month, and a robe hook and a boot tray at the door are the details that count. We draw the plant room in an outbuilding or a shed, with a drain and an air path, and keep the cabin near the house so staff can see its lights.

Peninsulas and ferries

Beara, Iveragh and Dingle are peninsulas with one road in; Valentia and Cape Clear add water. Delivery to them is a schedule, not a date: a lorry, a ferry, a tractor. We plan around the tide tables and the ferry as well as the weather.

The equipment in the headland sample is in the price list; the long cable run is not, and the kit builder covers the equipment only.