House of the Week: A moment in the sun at Fountainstown 

There's been a rush to the seafront for full-time quality of life living and that’s almost certainly the profile of who’ll come looking at this 261 sq m beachside property

No 1, The Point, Fountainstown, is located by the sandy spit known as the west beach. Pictures: John Roche.

The Point, Fountainstown, South Cork
€795,000
Size	261 sq m (2,800 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	3
BER	Pending

There's an easy democracy to life at Fountainstown — the beach and its burgeoning coastal community is served by a bus service from Cork city, with several options daily, taking just over half an hour, bringing families and day-trippers from pounding hot city pavements to sand and salt water between the toes.

Both Fountainstown and Myrtleville (less frequent bus service, though) have been having quite the ‘moment in the sun’ since the global pandemic temporarily halted overseas travel and sea swimming became almost cultish.

There’s likely to be a continued uptick in activity and visits to the two beaches, given their 25km proximity to the city.

Even now, there’s likely to be a continued uptick in activity and visits to the two beaches, given their 25km proximity to the city and surrounds.

Ever before the pandemic though, both Myrtleville and Fountainstown had evolved from holiday destinations to locations of choice for year-round family life, commutable to and from workplaces on a daily basis. 

The rise of work-from-home options has added to the rush to the seaside for full-time quality of life living — for those that can afford it — and that’s almost certainly the profile of who’ll come looking at No 1, The Point, by the end of Ferry Road, by the sandy spit known as the west beach.

1, The Point, is located by the end of Ferry Road.

One of three broadly similar large, detached houses built up the Point/Ferry Road and facing Ringabella Creek, less than a kilometre up from the main beach and slip at Fountainstown, No 1 is listed with great, heatwave week timing with estate agent Darragh Taaffe of Keane Mahony Smith.

He guides the extended house, now up to 2,800 sq ft in scale after an extension to the side of the original c 1,900 sq ft build some years back, at €795,000, noting its excellent build quality, space, range of bedrooms at both ground and first floor levels, large reception rooms to front for unobstructed south and west facing view and, quite the rarity, a site of one third of an acre, mostly in sloping lawns.

The site is one third of an acre.

The trio was speculatively built around 2000 by a city restaurateur, and even the site sizes were notable at the time, given the traditional profile of holiday homes around the various bays south of Cork harbour and Crosshaven, typically placed on relatively small plots, save for the elite along the Coast Road…where one contemporary home, Medjez, has fetched €1.793m, a local record.

There is plenty of living space in the home.

The Price Register shows about half a dozen Fountainstown resales over €500k, and the number at or over that sum hits double digits around Myrtleville, and the greater Crosshaven area records nearly 50 sales at the half a mill mark, or c 15 sales over €700k, so No 1 is heading into quite an elite (but growing of late) price echelon. 

1, The Point, is owned by a vendor who works in the multinational sector.

It comes on the tails of a €1.25m offer, Sea la Vie, a 2,700 sq ft one-off on a mature, landscaped site high above the beach at Fountainstown which came to market in May and is now sale agreed, with price not yet visible on the register.

(If you haven’t this sort of money to spend, there is a small c 800 sq ft semi-detached cottage near No 1 The Point currently on the market with a €175,000 AMV via agent Michael Pigott, a mere 10% of the sum Medjez made last year.)

Flooring is generally good quality hardwood and tiling.

This property, 1 The Point, is owned by a vendor who works in the multinational sector and she’s moving back to a family homestead nearer the city. During her time here she added a side wing to the right, continuing the sloping roof profile and creating a deep, front-to-back kitchen. 

It’s got an asymmetrical front façade with a sheltered porch, some apex and triangular window shapes, a central hall and the landing above has a window at its end for the view and can be used as a home office. 

The kitchen at the side has sliding doors out to a composite deck seating area.

Curiously the two first-floor bedrooms have no strategically-placed windows or balconies for views from upstairs.

The main reception rooms are to the front, each well-sized and flooring is generally good quality hardwood and tiling, with carpeted bedrooms, two at each level and the upstairs ones are dormer in style. 

The stairs in the property are walnut.

The stairs are walnut, with glass baluster and, quite unusually, one of the step risers is glazed to allow light through from the front door to the open understair section, while the added-on dining/kitchen at the side has sliding doors out to a composite deck seating area.

VERDICT: Away from the throng on the main beach, it has the west beach (which was once a ferry point over and back to Ringabella) right on its doorstep.