A place of refuge with harbour view

JONI Mitchell fans or refugees?

‘Hejira’ is an unusual name to give a house — The Hejira was Mohammed’s flight from Mecca to Medina in 622 and marks the beginning of the Muslim calendar. It can also mean a journey to escape a hostile environment but it’s odds on that it was after the 1976 Joni Mitchell album of the same name.

This is no estate house. It’s a one-off set on Graball Hill, on the road to one of Cork’s south coast resorts. The Bays of Crosshaven are a very old haunt of city-dwellers, but now the pilgrimage to the sea has more to do with full-time living, than summer occupation.

An attractive, dormer bungalow, Hejira is on the market with Valerie Parkes of HOK Savills for offers in the region of €695,000.

According to Ms Parkes, the dormer bungalow has the perfect balance of living space and bedroom accommodation — it also has fine views over Crosshaven Harbour. Despite the Graball address, it’s still just a walk to the village. Hejira isn’t a small house: it comes with a living room, and a large kitchen/ dining room with a two walls of oak units and plenty of room for dining. The second reception room is used as study. .

Next is an ensuite bedroom and a second bedroom with a main bathroom. Overhead, there are two fine bedrooms, one with dressing room and a balcony onto the rock face behind, while the dormer window overlooks the harbour. A shower room separates this room from the second, double bedroom.

Hejira is raised above the road and built into the cliff-side, so it comes with a terrace to the front with parking and turning space.