Terrace treasure a real steal

A MAJOR price lop in just a year may bring new occupants now to 8 The Terrace, Currabinny in Cork harbour.

The five-bed home in the genteel row of 10 large period houses facing the entrance to Crosshaven and with an almost daily parade of sail, was last spring priced at €750,000.

Still unsold as its first market anniversary passes, it has just had change of agent – and a dramatic price slash to €490,000. That puts it within the grasp of a far wider range of buyers.

The Edwardian-era terrace has always had its admirers, and resales are generally an absolute rarity; these homes have been kept protectively in family hands for decades on end. Third in on the right, No 8 has great southerly views over its lawns to the harbour and Camden Fort’s sentinel setting, while behind the Coillte forest rises up over the mounded hillside, with its great dense mix of hardwood trees and much-enjoyed forest paths.

The brow of that hill is host to the Octagon, a century-old teahouse and look-out used by various Currabinny and Terrace neighbours for picnics, and still a bit of a select collector’s item are the china teasets adorned with Octagon sketches.

The views from here span shipping, Spike and Haulbowline islands, yachting, Cobh town and cathedral, as well as the harbour industries spires and stacks.

More low-set is the Terrace, set 50 yards back from the water’s edge and jetty, and many of the residents in this neck of the woods are boat owners: punts, dinghies and canoes are drawn up on the shoreline, moorings are a stone’s throw away, and many of the Terrace houses have rear garages and boathouses too.

Selling agent now for the 2,150 sq ft No 8 is Dennis Guerin of Frank V Murphy & Co, and he reckons it will be a strong summer 2010 seller at its new €490,000 guide. Its formal rooms include a 16’ by 14’ sitting room, rear dining room and each has original fireplaces, the kitchen is a recent upgrade, with sloping timber ceiling, stone chimney breast with gas-fired stove, and painted units with Belfast sink and granite worktops. There’s also a utility, and WC/showerroom.

Overhead, the first floor has three bedrooms, and bathroom, with two more box-dormer attic level bedrooms with cast iron fireplaces and polished wood floors. Many of the rooms have working window shutters, with double-glazed windows.

Out to the back there’s a yard and a 31’ by 17’ garage for boats, cars or hobbies, while the front has a private lawn first, opening to a communal large lawn, used in the past as a tennis court.

Salad days beckon, or a Pimms?