Two sun terraces and a patio are part of this sparkling €550,000 Cobh home
1 Wilmount Terrace, Cobh
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Cobh, Cork |
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€550,000 |
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Size |
(137 sq m) 1470 sq ft |
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Bedrooms |
3 |
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Bathrooms |
2 |
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BER |
B2 |
AS the scene of 70 years of family drama where her parents’ married lives and her own childhood played out, the sale of No 1 Wilmount Terrace is a tough one for the vendor, who was born in an upstairs room.
She recalls how as kids they had the run of the ruins of an old castle high up on the hill behind them, of which there is now no trace.
It was Wilmount Castle, erstwhile home of Captain William Deane Seymour, a town commissioner and shipping agent for the Inman Line. The castle is rumoured to have been the location of Ireland’s first phone line, installed to connect the Captain with his shipping offices on Lynch’s Quay in Cobh town. You could say he was in the vanguard of the hybrid work model, blending in-office with remote work.
The Captain and family relocated to Wilmount House on Wilmount Avenue, in Carrignafoy, after the castle burnt down. The four-house terrace on the ridge below it retained the name. They were British Army houses, the vendor says, built in 1854, and auctioned off at the Town Hall in Cobh in 1887, when they were bought for £400STG each.
Her parents bought into the terrace 65 years later, in 1952, and paid £750IRL for No 1. The vendor has lived there since 2017, buying the home after her mother died at the good old age of 96. She recalls how much her late mother enjoyed the view from her ground-floor sitting room, looking straight out the mouth of the harbour towards Roches Point, and taking in everything from Whitegate to Crosshaven.
It’s a very different house now to the one the owner grew up in. When she returned there from her home on the outskirts of Cobh following her mother's passing, it was largely on account of those priceless views. That's the way it is on the terrace - the houses tend to stay in the same families for generations.
Having bought the house in 2016, herself and her husband set about a complete overhaul, concentrating on design solutions to maximise the views. They flipped the sitting room to the first floor where two windows overlook the harbour.
They transformed a garden out back into two stunning low-maintenance sun terraces, with more amazing views.
As if that wasn't enough, they installed a sandstone patio to the front, a regular suntrap at the end of the quiet cul-de-sac that is Wilmount Terrace. In essence, they covered all the bases when it came to catching some rays.
A local builder did the work on the terraces, each of which has a water feature and sitting out out areas.
“We’ve had a gang of 20 up on the terrace, it’s a wonderful spot for entertaining and watching the liners coming in. They pass right in front of us,” the owner says.
The internal work was done in the main by the vendor’s husband, who put in 12 hours days.
“He did it in nine months, start to finish,” the vendor said. He did a phenomenal amount, insulating the house internally (the BER is B2, remarkable for a house of its vintage); knocking a wall downstairs; moving the kitchen to the front; putting the utility in behind; putting in a new downstairs bathroom.
The porch was rebuilt and the roof replaced. The stairs was replaced with a solid oak stairway, by Crafted Fitted Furniture and Joinery, Lisgriffin, Mallow, suppliers also of the glazed solid-oak double doors that open into the kitchen from the downstairs dining area.
The kitchen, as well as shifting position, is an entirely modern, eye-catching, aubergine and grey affair.
Up the stairs, at the return, steps branch off in two directions, to a second bathroom and a double bedroom, both to the rear of the house. At the top of the stairs there are two more bedrooms with quality, harbour- facing views, and beyond them, the living room, with built-in bar and fireplace. The option is there to reinstate it as a fourth bedroom, but a living room allows greater sharing of the view.
The couple put long hours into No 1, as well as "“every penny, and more, that we made from the sale of our previous home", the vendor says.
They even made their own dedicated parking space just beyond the house, where the cul-de-sac ends.
Given the time/money invested and the emotional ties, the decision to sell up has been a hard one, but like every cloud, there's a silver lining - this one involves a lot of sunshine and a plan to retire abroad.
Johanna Murphy of Johanna Murphy & Sons is selling and the guide price is €550,000. Whoever buys can be reassured that their views will never be dimmed as the house deeds stipulate that nothing can be built in front of it.
Ms Murphy says the house will have broad appeal including attracting overseas buyers as Cobh’s reputation grows. Plans to enhance the town centre are showcased in a design that recently took top honours in the 2022 RIAI Architecture Awards.
Location wise, Wilmount Terrace is a five minute stroll from Cobh town centre, where a commuter rail link will take you to Cork city in 20 minutes.
Wilmount Terrace is up there with the best of them when it comes to first-rate views in Cobh. Quality restoration job with fabulous terraces.
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