Coast is clear from the sublime glass wing of this €1.2m slice of Kilbrittain paradise

Windows of opportunity showcase the sea view at Ard Álainn, built by the owner's father

Fri, 13 Oct, 2023 - 00:00

Catherine Shanahan Pictures: Jakub Walutek

Kilbrittain, West Cork
€1.2m
Size	343 sq m (3692 sq ft)
Bedrooms	5
Bathrooms	5
BER	B1

IF you were given to quoting the scriptures, a phrase that might apply here is one coined by St John for his gospel: “In my father’s house, there are many rooms.” It's relatable in this case because Ard Álainn, featured, was built by the owner’s late father, it has many rooms and just like in the Bible, it’s a bona fide heavenly dwelling.

Its name, which loosely translates as “beautiful on high” was inspired by the kind of vista that might tempt you to build on a glass wing.

The owner, Fintan Crowley, caved to that temptation, adding a stunning contemporary lounge in 2020, with floor-to-ceiling windows and a view to die for, or, better still, to stay alive for.

Facing down over fields of gold towards the coast, on a mature site that overlooks Coolmain and Harbour View beaches, Ard Álainn has that location/view combo that tends to command top dollar. The owner’s father knew what he was doing when he built it back in 2007.

He’d had plenty of practice as himself and three brothers (all now deceased) were the team behind Crowley Brothers’ builders, a reputable construction firm in Kilbrittain. In fact another home built by the brothers, called The Caverns, in Harbour View, which featured recently on these pages with an asking price of €1.35m, has just gone sale agreed.

The Caverns, Harbour View, has just gone sale agreed. The guide price was €1.35m

It enjoys the same spectacular coastline as Ard Álainn.

While the Crowley Brothers built both homes, architects did the designs. In the case of Ard Álainn, a local draftsman, Martin O’Callaghan, did the drawings for the original house, a couple of years after Fintan bought the 1.73 acre site around the year 2000.

A decade or so later, architect Derek O’Leary of South Douglas Road-based O’Leary Architecture + Design, produced the spectacular single-storey glass wing, which replaced a side conservatory.

He also replaced a dormer window in the main roof on the south-facing, stone façade with a new dormer picture window.

Anyone ascending the feature oak staircase in the hallway will reach a large landing which doubles as a lounge area and it’s here that the big picture window comes into its own.

It does present a dilemma though: whether to enjoy the panorama upstairs or from the uber-cool big glass wing.

The rest of the house is good-looking too, all 343 sq m (3692 sq ft) of it.

There’s a whole slew of rooms, including three reception rooms (not counting the upstairs lounge area); a cream hardwood kitchen with granite worktops and a large island breakfast unit which is open to the dining room, which in turn opens into the glass lounge.

The result is a great entertainment space. There are bedrooms too on the ground floor, including a huge bedroom suite with walk-in wardrobe and en suite, as well as the family bathroom, utility room, guest WC and services/boiler room.

The remainder of the bedrooms, also all doubles, are upstairs, with two en suites and another walk-in wardrobe.

With such a glut of bedrooms, new owners might look at other options like a home office or a playroom or a teen den or catering for members of the extended family. On the off chance that yet more space was required, there’s a large detached garage, with a floored first floor, which could be adapted to a studio/workshop/gym.

The garage is to the rear of the house and is reached via the formal, tree-lined driveway, or by a shorter drive to the rear of the house, with two access points from the public road. The grounds are landscaped, laid mainly to lawn, with some hard landscaping and a number of sitting out areas. To the west of the house is an additional area laid out as a paddock.

Potential buyers will be impressed by the quality of the property and even more so by the views – which include a view of Kilbrittain Castle to the rear. The house is angled to make the most of what it’s looking at, with top marks reserved for that glass extension.

Fintan is moving on because, perhaps like his father, he enjoys “creating nice spaces to live in” and he has recently built a contemporary house nearby, overlooking the same bay.

He’s expecting strong interest from overseas, the kind high-value West Cork coastal homes seem to enjoy.

It is after all located on one of Ireland’s most successful tourism brands, the Wild Atlantic Way, and it’s convenient to Kinsale (15km) and the famous Old Head of Kinsale Golf Links (14km), as well as, Bandon (13km), Clonakilty (22km), Cork Airport (36km).

For affluent house hunters looking for a seaside holiday home, there are fantastic seaside walks on the doorstep, as well as opportunities for wind-surfing, kayaking and sea-swimming at nearby sandy beaches including Coolmain, Harbour View and Howe Strand.

Ard Álainn is a 15 minute walk from Kilbrittain village, while the Local Link bus service, which stops within 250m of the property, connects the area with Kinsale, Ballinspittle and Timoleague, where there are excellent F&B options.

Selling Ard Álainn is Gobnait O'Connell of Engel & Volkers and she says it's "a rare opportunity to acquire a stunning coastal home, finished to an exacting standard, with beautiful, uninterrupted sea and countryside views". The guide price for Ard Álainn is €1.2m.