House of the Week: Curraghbinny home offers a fabulous vista for €580,000

Herons Rest, Curraghbinny

Curraghbinny, Crosshaven
€580,000
Size	172 sq m (1850 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	3
BER	D1

IF the science is correct — that pleasant visual stimulation triggers a release of dopamine — whoever buys Herons Rest in Curraghbinny, Co Cork, is set up for life.

From the small leisure craft berthed at the Royal Cork Yacht Club where Champagne sailing is the order to the day, to colourful Crosshaven village, snuggled deep into the shoreline of the Owenabue estuary, to the majestic steeple of St Brigid’s Catholic Church — all crowd into the fabulous vista on offer from this fabulous perch.

“It’s captivating really. I discovered Curraghbinny back in August 2018. The area was not known to me at all, and I fell in love immediately,” the current owner says.

Picking her favourite spot presents a dilemma: Is it the view from the window seat of the lounge bay window that frames this magnificent setting? Or is it sitting on the top tier of the garden looking out over the water? 

“The views from both are spectacular, although when I’m in the garden, I’m more likely to have my head down, pruning and planting,” she says.

The planting is expert, and the garden terraces give different vantage points from which to take in the waterscape. There’s little traffic on the road below, which is a cul de sac, and the entrance to the detached house is via a shared driveway that branches off to two or three individual houses.

The 0.7 acre site, which slopes down to the estuary, is ideal for this split-level home.

To maximise the views, all the main living accommodation — kitchen, lounge and master bedroom — is along the first floor.

The entrance porch, with extra high ceiling and two veluxes, is to the rear, as is a room that could make a good home office, removed from the distraction of those views.

A huge garage offers ample space to store a small boat — sailing is big in this area — but equally, it could be incorporated into the living accommodation.

A utility room can be entered from the back of the house leading into a hallway with doors to the master bedroom and adjoining bathroom.

The hue is nautical, lots of creams and pale blues, and the house feels light, bright, and airy, and a little New England.

“I did mood boards as soon as I bought it, and I felt there was a real Hamptons feel to it, and I tried to bring that out in the interior,” the owner says.

Her mood boards also include a balcony/deck extending out from the first floor which makes absolute sense in this setting, says James Colbert of Colbert & Co, who, along with his colleague, John Hornibrook, are the selling agents.

The bulk of the sleeping quarter are downstairs, plus another two bathrooms. A lovely front patio can be accessed through an entrance door at this level, which, in a south-facing garden, catches the sun all day.

The setting is not all about the water though. Herons Rest, built in 1999, is right alongside Currabinny Woods, and there’s even a private access gate directly onto the forest trail. 

The owner was not planning on selling — she bought with a view to making Herons Rest her final and permanent home — but Covid-19 put a spanner in the works and she now has to follow work and relocate to the UK.

She had a lot of plans for Herons Rest — including the possibility of using the ground floor as a B&B — which she didn’t get a chance to follow through on.

“It’s very hard to leave the house, but I’m not getting any quality time there. If I could work from home, I’d be in seventh Heaven, but the climate is such at the moment that there is more work for me elsewhere,” she says.

Mr Colbert says interest in the €580,000 172 sq m property is “extremely positive”. Some of it is local, some of it is coming from families in Cork City — there have even been international inquiries. It could end up as a family home or a holiday home.

The owner’s hope is that whoever buys will get a chance to make the most of a unique property in a unique location.

“I would love to see someone embrace and enjoy it. I hope that the next owner has the same passion for it as I had,” she says.

VERDICT: The perfect perch for a reset.