Passage rises again with raft of new developments

THE harbour town of Passage West, Co Cork, has its own town council and a neighbourhood which is distinctly on the way up having lolled in the doldrums through the Eighties and Nineties.

Passage now is hardly recognisable with its waterside lined with apartments and a raft of new developments on all sides running the gamut from starter homes to million-euro-plus villas.

The Pembroke Woods scheme, which is nearing completion, has added 600 houses to the town and O’Brien and O’Flynn have just opened ground on a 500-unit scheme at Ardmore. The most recent application has been a 48-unit, €20 million residential scheme for the Convent of Mercy school submitted to Council planners from Howard Holdings.

Meanwhile, a re-application for an integrated development on the Hill’s shipyard site, has not been submitted.

However, not all tastes run to new and a large house in what must be one of the towns first residential schemes, Bellevue Park, offers a 3,000 square foot alternative to duplexes and townhouses.

Built in 1796, number 4, is a new entry to the market with Susan Dunlea of Global Properties and it’s on offer at €750,000.

Gracious and bearing its age well, this family home comes with a huge, 140-foot front garden. This runs down to the main road, but has mature trees and tall hedges offering a privacy barrier from neighbouring properties.

Three-storey over basement, this house has plenty of room and it also comes with a brand new and very bright kitchen which is sure to be a strong selling point. A new addition, it’s attached to the rear of the ground floor, while to the front, there are two formal reception rooms with good proportions, original cornicing and deep windows, albeit in replacement PVC.

The basement provides a great play area for children, or could become a self-contained unit: right now it comes with a utility room, office/playroom, living room and guest WC.

The first floor has two bedrooms, one ensuite. The second floor has three more rooms with another ensuite bedroom and overhead is attic storage space with Stira access.

The house also has oil fired central heating and a back yard.