Star-shaped stunner along  south Cork's seaside from €995k 

Tommy Barker marvels at a uniquely designed star or cross-shaped coastal home with superb views,  premium finishes and a beach beyond its garden

Reagrove home by the sea, Rocky Bay and Minane Bridge has a €995,00 AMV quote by estate agent Ron Krueger of Engel & Volkers

Minane Bridge, South Cork
€995,000
Size	305 sq m (3,265 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	4
BER	B1

IT was the site, the setting right by the sea that, two decades ago, committed the couple that built this one-off coastal house to the painstaking two-year dream home project.

Classic design, contemporary yet contemplative

And, while they were visualising their planned new home to replace an old 1950s house then in situ, they’d sit in a field on chairs, twisting and turning, to decide on views they wanted to frame, and how best to capture them. Boy, was it worth it.

Most notably, they collaborated with an architect friend to come up with a very distinctive (and highly effective) cruciform or star shape, ranged around an octagonal core with overhead roof lantern.

Octagonal hall

The duo, who were looking to make a lifestyle move from Cork’s suburban Douglas and who had a hankering for the seaside, “had spent a couple of years on our motorbike riding down every boreen along the coast from Clonakilty to Youghal,” before discovering this divine spot.

Reagrove beach

 It’s at the end of a cul de sac, above a hidden beach to the western side of south Cork’s Rocky Bay, near Minane Bridge and Nohoval, just a 15 minute spin to either Kinsale or Carrigaline, or 30 minutes commute to or from Cork city and airport.

Lofty interior, feature stove  and views in every direction

That was June 2003 and they bought the 1950s farmhouse, including derelict early 1800s cottage and outbuildings alongside. Access was via a rough track and they bought ‘the promise and the potential,’ at the asking price, subject to planning permission for a replacement dwelling.

They lived in the old house while supervising and building this utterly rewarding one-off, and when done, knocked the old house, keeping cottage and outbuildings.

Soak in those views

Fast forward almost 20 years, and with grown children only only occasional visitors, they are looking to trade down. But, but attached as they are to the area, they’re renovating the old cottage with a more modest build.

They’ve listed their home with estate agent Ron Krueger of Engel & Volkers, Kinsale, and he guides the covetable, bang-on-trend sea and beachside buy at €995,000.

Vernacular cluster look

That’s for a 3,300 sq ft home on 1.1 acres, skilfully constructed, with an impressive B1 BER and fully delivering on their aims to capture light and views over sea, coastline, meadow and rolling farmland and up to an old signal tower - formerly a film set for a TV adaptation of Treasure Island, starring Eddie Izzard.

Sublime seaside setting

Also in view is Long Rock, part of the reefs along this section of indented coastline and cliffs, and there’s a private walkway to a secluded beach.

The area – with very good farmland all about and abundant in wildlife- is utterly unspoiled, and planning permissions are as rare as the local pheasants’ teeth.

The private acre – resplendent this month with a carpet of yellow cowslips – was sown by Carlow-based Sandro Cafollo, of wildflowers.ie.

“We wanted the house to be filled with light and have an airy feel to it, hence the vaulted ceilings in the main rooms,” the owners say of lofty main rooms, with end/gable walls glazed, top to bottom, while taut steel hawsers hold large and lofty Douglas Fir roof timbers in place under the slate roofs.

Gotta be light and bright and it is, thanks to full height gable glazing

They built using lots of natural materials: cherry wood joinery in bespoke doors, architraves, and skirting to blend with the Douglas Fir. Block and feature brickwork in the hall was done by locals, Quinn and O’Neill, Frank Kingston did the plastering, and superb masonry and stonework is by Lithuanian craftsman Tadas Mostys.

Kitchen picks up the octagon vibe in the island

Adding to the low-maintenance exterior are the slate roof, and stainless steel gutters and downpipes, in marine-grade material.

The man of the house is no slouch: with an engineering background and can-do attitude he made the roof lantern (with inset LED lighting) under which the Christmas tree stands each year); he tiled the octagonal-shaped hall/vestibule floor under in a mix of precisely-cut Rojo Alicante and Crema Marfil tiles; and made garage double doors and cantilevered stairs in Douglas Fir, leading to two attic rooms, one a home office with superb sea views.

Home office with views

There’s no expense spared throughout: luxury baths sited for views have electronic valves instead of traditional taps; the cherrywood kitchen has a central, octagonal island and granite tops.

Services wise, there’s a biocycle, private well, and the B1 BER is thanks to a geothermal heat pump for underfloor heating, under tile or fine, immaculate hardwood boards, and there’s CAT 6 cabling.

This €995k sale offer comes after a very high level of interest in a show-stopper €1.7m property a mile away from here, higher up on more land and close to sale agreed well over that AMV.

Lining up first viewings here, Mr Krueger sums up: “ this unique, star-shaped home offers a rare opportunity to acquire a stunning coastal home finished to an exacting standard with beautiful uninterrupted sea and countryside views, on a mature and private site at the end of a quiet cul-de sac, with direct access to a secluded beach for swimming and kayaking.”

VERDICT: eye-catching yet unobtrusive addition to this scenic coastline stretch of south Cork -and a cracking good house to boot.