The Celtic Tiger, the pitch and the walk-in wardrobe

Tommy Barker enters a world of truly sumptuous surroundings.

MULADHARA, the house that seems to have it all, has something no other house has - a walk-in wardrobe with a difference.

Long enough to run into, the wardrobe/storage space behind the master bedroom at this beefy Ballinhassig home is a whopping 34’ long, and 5’6” wide, with masses of shelving and hanging space.

The big, complicated roof structure at this 1970s-built but expanded Cork home allowed for such a space, though, at 5,400 sq ft, the rest of the house isn’t short on space either, and the garage brings the total square footage to 6,000.

The property is eight miles west of Cork city in an easily reached setting, just off the main Bandon/West Cork road.

There’s a handy back road to Kinsale this way, and Muladhara is less than half a mile from Ballinhassig village. The local GAA club is selling its playing field, and aims to relocate close to this red-brick colonial-style home, which has its own sports suite - including a gymnasium, games room and swimming pool complex with sauna and changing rooms, all powered by a deep-well/borehole geothermal heating system.

The specification at Muladhara is high throughout, and new owners will be pushed to find further things to invest in bar personal decorative changes and perhaps to put in a superior kitchen.

The property, on the market with William Hunter of Hunter Davis auctioneers in Cork city, has a price guide of e1.95 million. It is one of the largest, modern detached homes to hit the market in some time in the greater Cork area, at a time when demand is high for rural retreats within swift reach of the city centre, so the location is spot on.

The site is a bit under an acre and a half, and the long roadside setting which backs into a sloping hill has a continuous red-brick wall running several hundred feet, with two tall entrance pillars and gates, one controlled by security video intercom.

Even though the house is very large, it is highly usable space and the key to this is the fact that all of the rooms are big - but there’s not a mean room in the house and no need for formal, never-used ‘good’ rooms.

The main 30’ by 15’ front-to-back drawing room has a bay window to the left of the entrance porch and sheltering ‘skirt’, supported by white columns or pillars, and there’s also a bay window in the 22’ by 12’ library/home office. There’s a west-facing conservatory off the kitchen/dining room and pool area, and a family room between the drawing room and kitchen.

Upstairs, there are five bedrooms, or four if one is doubled up to make for a teenager’s suite as is the current case with the vendors’ layout. Another option open to those who don’t need five first-floor bedrooms is to remove the one away directly over the entrance hall, to make for a dramatic double-height well.

The remodelled main bedroom deserves the ‘master suite’ accolade. It has twin dormer windows, a four-poster bed, and a bathroom with Jacuzzi bath and double power shower/steam shower enclosure. Go up a few steps from the bedroom, and you are into a Narnia-land of wardrobe surprises, with that long stretch of space just demanding that you go on a shopping spree.

Leisure needs are also taken care of in the swimming pool area, with a good-sized sauna and changing rooms/body jet showers. The gym is well equipped and has a snooker table for the more sedentary, while the sprawling sun room/ conservatory also beckons the indolent.

Top-notch services and facilities include geothermal and oil heating, four satellite TV options, six heating zones, sophisticated alarm and electronic access gates, good insulation and double glazing. There’s an attractive curved stair-end as an entrance hall feature.

So, there’s nothing to do but move in and hang your hat. Damn, don’t say the hats are somewhere at the end of the 34’-long wardrobe!