Fancy a €650k Highlands fling at this tasty Passage West home?

Outdoor and indoor living are generously catered for at No 1 Highlands

1 Highlands Passage West

Passage West, Cork
€650,000
Size	219 sq m (2357 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	3
BER	B3

DÓNAL CROWLEY put in the hard yards when building a new home for his bride-to-be 20-odd years ago, proof of the pudding that it really was a labour of love.

“He was a mason working for builders in Carrigaline and they brought him to Passage West and showed him the site,” says Sharon, who became his wife.

They bought the site and he built No 1 Highlands in 1997, the year the couple tied the knot. Sharon says it’s been a great place to rear the kids.

“It’s been a very happy home and we’ve great space inside and out so we could hire bouncy castles and have swings and slides and do all the celebrations at home because we had the room,” says Sharon.

The fine, bright, extra-wide hallway is like a room in itself and for birthdays and at Christmas time, it was the star venue, when tables were set up along its length to accommodate guests.

Expansive hallway at No 1

Come summertime, a lot of the dining was done outside, on a patio that catches the best of the light.

Dining al fresco

Dónal built that too, using porcelain tiles that, unlike a timber deck, don’t need to treated. He built raised planter beds around it and installed a sail shade overhead and was repaid for his efforts by the amount of use they knocked out of it, barbequing and entertaining in this inviting outdoor space to the side of the house.

To the rear is a large west-facing lawn, with a couple of vegetable beds made from railways sleepers.

 It’s a mature private site in a development of detached, bespoke homes.

You can see the harbour from the main bedroom and it’s a short walk to the waterside from where a greenway runs right up to Blackrock Castle, or further on up along the Marina to Cork City. It’s a smashing, level, scenic bike ride.

Back at No 1 Highlands, everything is just so: well-proportioned rooms, a kitchen that was upgraded five years ago, an ensuite that was upgraded just this year; a main bathroom overhauled two years ago. 

Open plan kitchen/dining

The room flow is good: open plan kitchen dining with a door to the patio, two reception rooms that open into one another via double doors.

A little room with rear access was briefly used for a dog grooming business; it might hold other options for new owners wishing to run a sideline from home.

“We’ve great pride in the place, we did it ourselves and the two of us are into interiors,” says Sharon. But with the kids grown up, they’re planning to downsize — just across the road.

Jackie Cohalan of Cohalan Downing is selling the 219 sq m four-bed, detached dormer and she says it’s in a quiet, established neighbourhood, “with easy access to local amenities and commuter routes.

“The house has been beautifully maintained, with lots of upgrades, and a terrific B3 energy rating, which means the buyer can qualify for green mortgage rates,” Ms Cohalan says.

So far, all the interest is from young families, living locally, who want to stay in the area, but need more space.

VERDICT: Ideal family home, maintained to a high level both inside and out.