House with five acres at Ovens close to booming Ballincollig

IF THE cliche 'development follows roads' is anyway true, then it is only a matter of time before the land with Knockanemore House gets extra value added to it.

The new Ballincollig by-pass terminates a couple of fields away from this period house, and both housing and industrial development have come out to meet this hot Ovens spot, with EMC the most notable example.

Developers O’Callaghan Properties acquired Knockanemore House and lands a few years age from lnog-time owner the O’Neill family, and now are selling off the Georgian residence on five acres, which includes a tennis court, swimming pool building, stables and paddocks.

O’Callaghan Properties have the sprawling Classes Lake development a mile or so to the east, and have a 200 house scheme due to start very shortly at Lisheens, Ovens. The possible future development potential at Knockanemore will be there for some other owner to pick up on.

The house is described as a villa by estate agent Frank Walsh of Property Partners O’Mahony Walsh, and is a two-storey over-basement residence with around 3,500 sq ft of space.

It is close to the picturesque church at Athowen, once posited as a possible crematorium site (that grave honour has now gone to Rocky Island in Cork harbour) and Ballincollig centre is less than two miles, while the ring road and by-pass puts Cork city within easy reach.

There’s two acres of ground with the house and three acres of field to the rear which may have most scope for future building on: at present, it is described as paddock, though it is currently tilled.

The residence is in good overall condition and has gas central heating, but the place needs upgrading, and has first floor bedrooms, two bathrooms, and two reception rooms with fireplaces, plus kitchen (with Aga) and hall at ground level. The lower ground level has two more large rooms, plus bathroom.

The pool building is about 900 sq ft, and has a 28’ pool with Jacuzzi, sauna and dressing rooms/shower, and there’s also a lofted garage building with attached stables.

Previous owners included Benjamin White, whose daughter married Samuel Hawkes, one of the Hawkes brothers of Muskerry racing and hunting fame in the 19th century, another long-time occupying family were the Taylor family, assocaited with Ardtully Castle, and William Ellis, with the O’Neills and O’Callghans as latter day owners.

According to Frank Walsh of Property Partners O’Mahony Walsh, “properties of this calibre with its large site, views, privacy and further development potential are extremely rare in the market place.” Thus, he seeks €2.5 million for Knockanemore House and five acres.