Space, style and a big slice of American pie

IT’S appropriate that the views down from 9 Ard Chuain include container ships serenely cruising below, on their way to or from Tivoli docks in Cork harbour — after all, lots of this house’s furniture, floors and fittings came to Cork by container ship.

Bought five years ago in shell condition by a US couple with small daughters, they were wooed and won-over by the views from this Passage West eyrie. Having built two homes previously in Florida, they were quite prepared to put their finished stamp on site No 9, and so to this end, they brought in two containers of their stuff, from closets and faucets (wardrobes and taps to us) to light fittings and more, plus enough Brazilian cherrywood to floor the vast majority of their new 3,400 sq ft family home, upstairs and downstairs.

Five years down the line, job done, dusted and buffed to a high degree, a return to Florida beckons for the occupants who’ve spread out and made the place an accommodating and comfortable home, and so No 9, in a niche of 17 individual homes built on serviced sites is up for sale, as a walk-in proposition.