Deft design fuses engineering detail with architectural inspiration

BUILT in the late 1990s, and in the same ownership since, this Ringacoltig home on Cork’s Great Island has all the marks of being designed and built by someone ‘in the know’.

It turns out that one of the vendors is indeed an engineer, and one with even more of a visual flair than most in this line of business: ‘engineer-designed’ contrasts with ‘architect-designed’ but here the inspiration and description covers both bases.

The one-off 3,100 sq ft home is on a private site between Rushbrook and Cobh in Cork harbour, in a spot which houses quite a few individual one-offs.

It has all matured very nicely, with gardens grown in and plants climbing up the house walls, gardens walls and pergola.

While the house is large, the site is more modest, and has been deliberately laid out for low maintenance, notes Jarlath Boyd of Savills Hamilton Osborne King. He contrasts the almost tropical external planting with the Continental feel, and the design features mix part-brick in the lower facades, render and a low-pitch tiled roof, with some glass block glazing.

There’s lots of glazing and large living spaces. There’s a big entrance hall, a 29’ by 16’ sitting room with oak floor and sandstone fireplace, kitchen with granite worktops, a conservatory/sun room with patio access, family room, guest WC, study or ground floor bedroom, and three overhead bedrooms, two with en suites, plus a main family bathroom.

It also has a double garage, oil heating and lots of parking and landscaping which includes railway sleepers and plants such as rhododendrons, azaleas, hydrangeas, Japanese maple, hornbeam and more.

The price guide is €980,000.