Saturday, January 07, 2012
Tommy Barker visits a house set in mature woodland, so closely in touch with nature that fauna comes right to its door
Tranquillity and convenience with a very private and exclusive signature home in a wooded setting with its own riverside pier access
THE word ‘unique’ gets bandied about with some abandon in property-speak, but here’s a River Bandon house that earns the soubriquet.
It’s timber-framed, with quality woods featuring extensively inside and out. Then, to crown it all, it is set in a copse of dense, mature woodland, a house closely in touch with nature, so close that woodland fauna comes right to its door.
As an added bonus, fish can come to its site boundary too. This one-off home of individual character, called Shipool Lodge, has one section of its several private acres of site coming with 120ft of river frontage and pier to the lower, tidal stretches of the River Bandon, allowing easy access to a boat, and on then a couple of wending wooded miles to Kinsale, to the ocean beyond.
Located a mile or so downriver of Innishannon, and thus close to both Bandon and Kinsale and with Cork city and airport a 15 to 20-minute spin away, Shipool Lodge is being quietly marketed by Bandon estate agent Brendan Bowe, for its owner and designer, a Continental European businessman who has been several decades living here.
It’s the second house he’s built on this site, as the first was hit by fire, and this replacement kept faith with the original house’s feel and look. It’s now offered for sale as the owner is down-sizing.
It packs in a lot into one up-market package, with a sizeable main house, complete with very extensive libraries with ceiling-high walls lined with books, plus a separate but adjacent second building, with ground-floor garage, and a self-contained guest apartment bedsit/overhead, plus as a workshop.
It can only be barely glimpsed from the Innishannon-Kinsale road below it, thanks to its cloak of trees. The consequence of such close proximity of planting is shading from trees which darkens the interiors. It’s possibly at its brightest on a clear and sunny winter’s day, when the deciduous trees are without greenery. Other than that, you know you are living in the woods, views are graded from near to mid-distance: there are no long vistas here.
There’s something decidedly Continental about its looks and finishes. Externally, the impression is immediately conveyed by its deep overhang eaves, usually needed for shedding heavy snow, as well as keeping water away from its rough-rendered walls and abundant climbing plants, from roses to wisterias, while fascias and window frames are sympathetic in cedar and Scandinavian pines.
Internally, there’s a plethora of woods used in the finishes, ranging from Scandinavian blonds to darker russets, but most distinguished of all are the pitch pines, used in lots of floors and ceilings.
Shipool Lodge is a sort of catalogue of ‘best of’ materials, including stone, brick, copper, tile and glass, but it is at somewhat of a variance with contemporary tastes. Minimalist it isn’t.
It’s a super-snug house in lots of ways, with good insulation standards and exemplary glazing, but you’d have to hope it is tightly enveloped, as it is, first of all, sizeable, and the presence of things like a gym, sauna, several hot-tubs and an air-conditioned gym/leisure centre with compact swimming pool with counter-flow current for swimming exercise is going to push up energy and running costs, naturally enough.
Layout is individual, if not idiosyncratic, with the main core and living room a soaring double height space with galleried landing around an enormous chimney breast. The main house is relatively short on bedroom numbers for its size, with three proper bedrooms plus another sleeping area by one of the several libraries. As several rooms inter-connect, there are possibilities of varying uses, or adaptations.
As it stands, it has been designed very much for the owners’ lifestyle, so book storage, display and reading areas gets lots of space, with custom-made polished dark wood shelving, rising up walls and even columns, with ladders on wheels for access.
Also setting Shipool Lodge apart is the raft of leisure facilities, from gym with sauna, large hot-tub set into a virtual internal rockery, with plunge pool, to the short swimming pool with powered controllable counter current to swim against, with air conditioning to keep air fresh, all against a Romanesque backdrop of art and statuary.
Up under an apex roof is a home cinema, a completed black-out space, with projector, surround sound and pull-down screen, with plenty of lounging space in this 22’ by 8’ carefully installed room.
Estate agent Brendan Bowe rightly describes the house as ‘bespoke,’ or tailored, but it is adaptable to more regular family use too, perhaps by moving a few walls around.
It’s one of those houses where the best of materials have been used, especially the timbers and the pitch-pine flooring, and the kitchen, though it looks old fashioned, has an entirely functional spread of services, with a backdrop of luscious, deep-glazed hand-made tiles, while a custom-built copper canopy is set above the hob.
Shipool Lodge’s heart is its hearth, a soaring, brick chimney breast in the double-height living space, which has double doors and lots of glazing to the south-facing patio, ringed by high trees, stone terraces, and water features, and more statuary. Behind, the back of the house is sheltered by a car-port, giving plenty of dry storage space, ideal for drying timber for the several fireplaces in the main residence, such as in the 30’ by 18’ atrium-like living room, and the master bedroom which has a very continental looking glazed-tile stove. One of the many private library sanctuaries has a fireplace with gas insert.
Auctioneer Brendan Bowe, who doesn’t disclose an asking price (likely to be in the very broad €1 million to €2m category) had lined up a few select viewings over the holiday period from overseas. They are attracted by the proximity to the airport, Kinsale, west Cork and more. Having a part of the ground across the road with direct river access to the tidal sections of the River Bandon is a bonus, especially for boat owners.
It is, says Mr Bowe, "tranquillity and convenience with a very private and exclusive signature home in a wooded setting with its own riverside pier access. Truly, an individual home for the individual who seeks perfection and privacy".
VERDICT: You won’t be ambivalent about this woodland property mix; it’s either right up your street, or off-piste.
Location:
Innishannon, Cork
Price:
Not disclosed
Size:
312 sq m (3,345 sq ft)
Bedrooms:
4
BER rating:
Pending
Best feature:
Superb quality build
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