No ordinary run of the mill

THREE into one does go, in the case of the old mill cottages in Cork’s Ballincurrig.

Once a hive of a local linen industry, with a mill building and cottages at its hill and streamside conjunction, it is now a picturesque roadside and valley-set village in east Cork.

Ballincurrig — near Lisgoold and six miles from Midleton, on a quiet back road which could lead you to alternative back roads to Cork if you had sat nav or the local ‘smarts’ (and Smarts is the name of the local pub) — is where Riverbank House has risen up, replacing a trio of smaller mill workers’ cottages which had been ear-marked for restoration but which it turned out had gone too far for salvation.

Those cottage building stones have surfaced instead in the entirely naturalistic landscaping which surrounds this modern replacement.

This is a 3,000 sq ft new home looks like it might have been a conversion of an older building: the look, of ‘new’ doffing its cap to the ‘old’ is deliberate, say owners Mike and Annie, who designed it with Tom Downes of Mad Haus and who kept window proportions sympathetic to the country house look and scale.

That’s until you go around the back, and find large glazed areas opening on to decking, which is cantilevered out over the Owencurra River. Yes, Riverbank House is all about the setting.

Priced at e850,000 via John Hornibrook of Sherry FitzGerald O’Donovan in Midleton, it is a walk-in job — just bring your furniture. Likely buyers may come from relocaters, couples or professionals working in Cork city (a 20-30 minute commute most days), or even retirees from the rat-race, who want contemporary design and comforts in their new life plan.

It could also simply be a family home for traders-up as there’s loads of space, and light, and a road and river-bounded site of one third of an acre, beside an old rustic bridge by the stream… you can hear the song coming on, can’t you?

External look is white painted render and slender cedar sheets set in distinct boxes, horizontally hung, left untreated to weather naturally to match the colour of the surrounding trees’ bark. Cool, understated, attractive — who needs big show-off McMansion when you can slot a house into a site as sublimely as this?

Internally, the high-end house’s structure is essentially one room wide, in a thick-set L-shape, with two reception rooms to one end, to the right of the entrance with a gable-set open fireplace in the far one, and the show-stopper is the massive 18’ x 35’ kitchen/living/dining room to the left.

A truly slick affair, it has a German Leicht kitchen and island done by Keatings, with simple stainless steel edging trim on the worktops: it looks a million euro.

Ground floor covering is dark and luscious merbau wood, there’s also a large utility room and guest loo and an open-treat stylish Italian chrome and hardwood staircase leads onwards and upwards.

Overhead are four bedrooms (a great master suite overlooks the river and deck), with two en suite bathrooms and a main family bathroom with smart bath and storage surround.

The washing facilities are all very well finished and tiled with pumped showers.

There’s a condenser boiler, oil-fuelled and if you are feeling really hardy, you can always have a dip in the bordering Owenacurra, as steps lead down from the garden to the fast-flowing water feature, supplied free by Mother Nature.