Sail on down to Woodland View in Crosshaven
On and off over the centuries and decades, Crosshaven in Cork harbour was a community ‘at the end of the line.’
The cul de sac village backed up by a military fort, and favoured by sailors for its safe and sheltered berths for boats along the Owenabue estuary, has had its fortunes rise and fall with the tides.
Right now? It’s at the top of its game, has its largest-ever population, and has transitioned from seaside resort to full time community, supported by schools, shops, restaurants and cafes, sports clubs, coves and beaches, yacht clubs and ‘the Merries.’
Crosshaven came into particular favour - as did much of the varied Cork harbour villages - in the Victorian era, when the railway came to Passage West in 1850.
From there, paddle steamers plyed routes to Queenstown, Haulbowline, Aghada, Currabinny, Ringaskiddy and Crosshaven, for day trips, holidays and ‘new’ residents of these expanding settlements.
Served in this manner, as well as by road around from Carrigaline, was this house, Woodland View, a solid semi-detached home for the then-burgeoning and affluent middle classes, and built in 1880.
It took another quarter century after this home was occupied for the railway to make its way to Crosshaven via Monkstown and Raffeen, arriving with a puff and a pant in 1903.
However, the hard-campaigned for link was quite short-lived for the scale of investment, as the service stopped in 1932.
In the past ten years or so, the old rail line has become one of the greater Cork area’s most popular waterside walks and cycles, out a few miles from Kilnagleary at Carrigaline, past Drakes Pool to Crosshaven, accompanied by the sight of many hundreds of boats turning on the tides.
Woodland View is also about water and boat views too, with the woodland in question being the woods across the water and marinas and moorings, at Currabinny.
Most Crosshaven property launches come along in spring and summer, but this is an unseasonal offer, but definitely a home for all season and year-round living.
Late Victorian in character and stoutly built, with 10’ high ceilings, quality fireplaces and a good blend of large living areas and five bedrooms, the house is listed with estate agent Malcolm Tyrrell of Cohalan Downing, who guides at €495,000 and who says it’s a great buy for a family who’ll relish the quality of the build, its location on the Upper Road near the national school, aspect, views and grounds.
It’s one of a several dozen homes of this size and quality in the setting above the village and Royal Cork Yacht Club, reached up a hill behind the former Grand Hotel (now a small number of upmarket privately-owned apartments.)
There’s pedestrian access to the front of Woodland View from the Upper Road, while a cul de sac road behind gives cars access to this property’s private off-street parking,with a garden path to the rear of the house.
The back is probably the sunnier aspect, and is home to a large kitchen/dining room, with doors out to a south-facing patio at one end, while the interior houses a six-ring Brittania range cooker with double oven, with utility off plus guest WC.
Also opening to this rear sun-trap patio is the house’s double-aspect family room, 13’ wide with original fireplace, marina views to the front and French doors to the back terrace.
This is a home where room sizes tend toward the generous, even the hall feels large and airy. Across on the other side from the family room is a more formal dining room, 13’ by 21’ thanks to a bay window in its front, in prime position for sitting, and watching, and thinking of going out on the water.
Right now, the bay window is home to a baby grand piano, while a side wall is entirely fitted with floor-to-ceiling bespoke shelves, as the room is used as a professional’s home office.
A stairs leads to a half-landing and return, where a side window has glimspes of Crosshaven church’s slender copper church steeple, and up a few steps is a WC, and separate main family bathroom, with both bath and shower.
There are five bedrooms here in all, one by the stair return and three of the five have original cast iron Victorian fireplaces. The larger of the bedrooms, another 17’ by 13’ room with fireplace, has very extensive built-in robes and shelving, all along one long wall.
Original features are kept where ever possible, windows are painted timber sashes and central heating comes from an oil boiler. Overall condition for a property of c 135 years of age is excellent, and it has patios and gardens with a steel shed for bikes and boating gear.
Crosshaven’s Woodland View is the sort of setting where at least every second home will have binoculars or a telescope to the front for watching all the maritime activity: however, there’s an absolute rarity tucked away in the back garden of Woodland View’s adjoining/neighbouring semi: it has it own compact observatory, much used by its star-struck amateur astronomer owner, who has the panoply of the heavens above his head....and Crosshaven at his feet.
: Will float your boat.
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Seaside village setting
