Making the most of the coast

Tommy Barker says Creadan Bay House is a composite of old and new.

NOT too many people get to 'trade down' to a house of 7,800 sq ft, but when one of your previous homes was a whopper like Waterford Castle, then all things are suddenly relative.

Businessman Eddie Kearns had the pleasure of stately living in the eponymous Waterford Castle, now a luxury hotel, and he wasn't prepared to compromise his standards when staring this new-build in a special coastal setting by Hook Head lighthouse the oldest operational light in the world.

He and his son Damien set out to build the new Kearns family home "just the way it would have been built 100 years ago," though truth be told Creadan Bay House is a composite of old ways and the best of the new. It was a labour of love, says Eddie in hindsight of the considerable building challenge, its walls are 26" thick, with a 9" stone finish outside, cills, pillars and barges are granite, its floors are heated from below and it is ceiling-corniced to within an inch of its lift.

The interior fit-out is to five star standards, with high specification electrical fittings, chandeliers and sanitary ware. The kitchen has a Waterford Stanley cooker, which heats the upper floors as well, and glazing is a Five Star Golden Oak pvc, with K glass fitted for thermal efficiency.

The coastal peninsula setting in the Dunmore East area justified the time and expense, and the house carefully sited after extensive negotiations with planners is on 25 paddocked acres with five acres of lawns. Close-by is Woodstown Beach, and Hook Head lighthouse is a night-time sweeping sentinel watch. The property has waterfrontage and the land drops down dramatically to the sea, with a long approach avenue setting the tone. Eddie Kearns says he and Damien extensively studied US and international coastal properties to see how best to maximise the views, and cane up with this V-shaped home as a result.

Its upper floor is laid out effectively as two large suites, with a connecting hallway, and each of the two main rooms have four dormer windows apiece. The ground floor has four en suite bedrooms, and the hall has a vaulted ceiling with corridor off left and right.

Other rooms include a 26' by 26' sitting room with six tall arched windows for views, an internal arch to the hall, and patio doors for the best Hook lighthouse views (incredibly, there's been a light here since the year 1240.) There's also a formal dining room, very large kitchen with painted and pelmeted cream units and granite worktops with large island, study, utility and main bathroom with Hydra bath and shower.

The Kearns are selling up as they spend half the year overseas in Portugal and want an Irish base with even more land. They've appointed joint agents, John Rohan in Waterford, and Gunnes in Dublin, who say that a house of this size and quality in such a spectacular setting wil hardly come up for sale again.

Hence, they guide Creadan Bay House at €3.5 million and says it has already been viewed by some local wealthy professional families keen for a unique buy, and overseas/relocating interest is also expected.