An orangery, a hot tub, landscaped gardens — deluxe Carrigaline home makes quite a splash

No expense spared on €850,000 No 6 Wheatfields

Fri, 21 Jul, 2023 - 17:04

Trish Dromey Pictures: Jakub Walutek

Carrigaline, Co Cork
€850,000
Size	254 sq m (2,735 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	4
BER	B2

An elegant orangery or garden room adds quite a significant wow factor to this four-bed detached house 6 Wheatfields in Carrigaline.

A modern take on a classic 18th Century garden room, it’s flat roofed block built structure with roof lanterns and cornicing, which has been designed, not for fruit growing, but for relaxing, cooking, dining and entertaining.

The 35 sq metre orangery is just one of a series of improvements wrought by the Irish/ Kiwi couple on the four- bed detached property they bought as a recently completed shell in 2008 and have since given a polished, high grade finish to.

The first of several major alterations was an attic conversion carried out nine years to create an additional 18 square metre en suite bedroom with a subdivided his and hers walk-in wardrobe.

While building the orangery four years later, the couple also took the opportunity to renovate their sunroom and to upgrade the kitchen dining room.

Not confining themselves to extending and redecorating, they also turned their attention to energy efficiency and put in Rational triple glazed windows. This and addition of solar panels at front and rear brought the BER rating up to a B2.

“Two years ago we put in a solid walnut staircase and also replaced all the doors,’’ says the owner who, along the way, decorated the entire house in neutral shades Farrow & Ball.

And now, after 15 years of continuous upgrades and improvements, the property is described by Ron Krueger of Engel and Voelkers as “a superb home with a stunningly beautiful interior, and a luxurious finish”.

At the front, overlooking the driveway, is a timber floored living room with a fireplace and wood burning stove and blue alcove shelving.

Across the hallway is a second living room with an archway opening into a well equipped kitchen dining living space with hand-made Silestone topped pale grey units and a sizable island unit.

Double doors lead to the renovated sunroom which has reclaimed parquet flooring and plantation shutters and has been decorated to match the orangery.

Beside the kitchen there is also a utility room and a guest WC.

The sweeping walnut staircase leads to the first floor which has a bathroom with a roll top bath as well as four bedrooms, including one en suite and two which share a Jack and Jill en suite. One of these has been fitted out as a home office.

In the converted attic there’s a large bright en suite bedroom which has a bank of four Velux windows and his and hers walk in wardrobes.

Outside in the garden the orangery, decorated in neutral Farrow and Ball shades of grey and off white and floored with reclaimed oak parquet, has a kitchenette as well as a living room.

A bright room with views of the sky through two roof lanterns and of landscaped gardens through three sets of French doors, it was well used by the family during Covid lockdown but at other times has provided wonderful space for entertaining. “We have had up to 60 people at parties,” says the owner, explaining that this involved opening up doors and using the garden space too.

The gardens around the orangery have been lawned landscaped with low walls and hedging and have a large Kilkenny limestone patio. Outside the orangery there is a hot tub – a feature which was added during Lockdown.

The house is guiding at €860,000, which makes it the most expensive sale in Wheatfields since the Boom, when many of the 55 houses in the development, built on serviced sites in the early 2000s , were valued at €700,000 and €800,000.

The highest priced sale since then was in 2017 when No 9 fetched €590,00 but Mr Kruger says demand is significantly higher now especially given that there haven't been any sales in Wheatfields since 2019.