€550,000 Co Waterford home is just what the doctor ordered

Best of both hemispheres on offer as vendors swap the beauty of Mahon Falls in Waterford to the Whangerai Falls in northern New Zealand

Rookery, Waterford
€550,000
Size	277 sqm (2,960 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	3
BER	B1

The young family that built this Waterford house as their dream home, just in the past three years, are unexpectedly on the move, swapping one falls for another, moving from the beauty of Mahon Falls in Waterford to the Whangerai Falls in northern New Zealand. And, they are swapping one family support for another, on the other side of the globe.

It wasn’t in the plans, when Waterford man and electrician, John Ryan, and his Kiwi wife, a GP, Dr Liz Dowd drew up plans, initially for a house extension in John’s native parish by Kilrossanty, at Knocknacullen. They had come back from New Zealand where they’d spent nine years, and had started their family of three.

They’d met originally in Dungarvan, when Liz had worked in a juice bar on a gap year from university studies and they’ve now lived both in New Zealand and Waterford — and are unexpectedly going back to the southern hemisphere for family reasons which cropped up in their absence at their “other” home.

They’re due off on that long haul in August, three children in tow and lured by the promise of a rental on the beach there on arrival.

The family dog, a Jack Russell is already en route to New Zealand, and he was in Singapore on the day the Irish Examiner caught up with Liz, who works in the Killeagh Medical Centre in East Cork.

She and John designed this house to their own high spec, having already built one house and renovated another in New Zealand before coming back to Ireland.

They’d aimed to extend a 1930s bungalow they were buying, but were shot down for planning for that project. Yet, almost paradoxically, they got planning to knock it and rebuild it in pretty much an identical manner, extended, in a slightly different part of the site.

It was an 18-month build project (May 2019 to November 2020), done by direct labour overseen by John who took a year off to manage it and they built it in block and stone for a barn look in the main, lofty open-plan wing with dramatic internal spaces, with the near-3,000 sq ft build camouflaged by way of breaking its bulk and roof lines down into separate linked sections.

Features include blackened larch by the carport, black limestone cladding, granite sills, energy-efficient features and heat recovery, a Heta 81% efficient wood-burning stove, thermo-dynamic panels for constant 55˚C hot water, designer lighting (Irish design, Mulla) and bespoke kitchen and oak feature panelling by Garrett Dillon, based in Dungarvan, about 20 minutes drive away.

With utter mixed feelings, the departing owners rave about the facilities and walks on their doorstep. It is near walking and cycling trails in the Comeraghs and Mahon Falls (a 5km walk), Crough Woods, and Coumshingaun Lake. As well as that, the coast and Greenway are a 15- to 20-minute spin away, and the likes of Bunmahon is just 11km off.

Dr Dowd says “living in a busy modern world, amongst countryside is an absolute bonus for mental wellbeing. We know that accessing either green (forests/countryside) or beaches/lakes for at least two hours per week has massive benefits to stress reduction, blood pressure and general mental wellbeing.

“Forest bathing is a prescription in parts of the world for depression, and waking up to views of the Comeragh Mountains never gets old, watching the landscape change through the seasons,” she says.

“To be honest I can’t think of a better location in Co Waterford for access of all parts of Waterford and the beauty it has to offer, and never lacking something to do or somewhere to go. I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else in Ireland.”

VERDICT: Leaving with heavy, but healthy hearts, for unexpected family reasons.