Captain’s Pick is a winner at this €525,000 Georgian classic in Cobh
1 Merview, Cobh
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Cobh, Cork |
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€525,000 |
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Size |
190 sq m (2045 sq ft) |
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Bedrooms |
4 |
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Bathrooms |
3 |
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BER |
Exempt |
THE pool of immigrant plants in the garden at No 1 Merview is not just down to Cobh’s microclimate. The man who lived there was a sea captain with a habit of picking up seeds while abroad. A very large Canary palm (Phoenix Canariensis) in the south-facing garden was grown from seeds gathered from under a parent tree while the sea captain was holidaying in Lanzarote. It survived snow and frost and has continued to thrive, even though it’s 1,600 m further north of the equator than its Canary Island-based parent.
Challenging this tropical palm for supremacy in the Merview garden is a Chusan or Chinese windmill palm (Trachycarpus fortuni), native to parts of China, Japan, Myanmar and India. And in the midst of these two exotic beauties are other non-native species such as large cacti, banana trees, tree ferns and grasses. Less exotic but no less beautiful are the roses.
The garden to the rear of No 1 Merview wasn’t always there. It only came about after the sea captain bought land adjoining his home in the 1980s. In fact he bought more than land – there was a house on it too, but at a level of dereliction not worth salvaging. So the sea captain levelled it, and grew the tiered garden from there. It’s accessed separately, via steps that run down the side of the house.
The steps are possible because No 1 is an end-of-terrace home, although it didn’t start out that way. Its owner says it was built some years before the other three houses in the terrace, which helps explain why it’s a much larger-looking home than its neighbours.
While they are two-bay properties, No 1 is a four-bay, with ostensibly superior views.
No-one could dispute that No 1 is a looker. It has that gorgeous Georgian townhouse aura, from the classic Georgian front door with arched fanlight, through to its high-ceiling hallway and well-proportioned reception rooms, one of which has an antique fireplace.
The owner believes it was built around 1820 to house the minister of St Mary’s, the local Anglican church, which was built a couple of years earlier, in 1816 (demolished in 1967). The terrace attracted other notable members of the community too: No 3 Merview was home to marine artist George Mounsey Wheatley Atkinson, a Cobh native, who trained as a carpenter, later becoming Captain Atkinson, as Government Surveyor of Shipping and Emigrants.
That men passionate about the sea would be drawn to these Merview homes is not really surprising. High above Cork harbour, everything that enters and leaves this busy expanse of water passes before them. From the rear rooms, it’s like having a ringside seat to the shipping news, from the arrival of majestic cruise liners to colourful dinghies. You can even see the water from the hallway, through a long rear window that drops down between floors.
The impression it creates is that very little separates Merview Terrace from the harbour itself. In fact there’s a couples of terraces below it, out of view. Nothing is ever going to obscure the view though, because there’s nowhere to build on the steep slope that drops down behind these homes.
There isn’t a hint at street level of the vista on offer from the rear. Out front is the ordered simplicity of a Georgian property, with wrought iron gate and railings and a small encaustic tiled pathway leading to the pretty front door.
There’s more plant exoticism too, mostly tropical shrubs and different types of fern, all of which are in pots sitting on gravel. Parking is on-street.
Just beyond No 1 is the entrance to one of the first Wesleyan chapels built in the county of Cork, which opened in 1810 for the benefit of the British naval military, who had a strong presence in Cobh when it was still known as Queenstown and the country was under British rule. While the British navy is long gone, Cobh remains an important military base, with the Irish Naval Service headquartered in Haulbowline, while neighbouring Spike Island is now an important tourist attraction.
A former sea captain - involved in shipping out of Cobh following his retirement - must have loved living so close to so much water-driven activity, in a house with a bird-eye's view of it.
He was spoilt for choice when it came to viewing platforms, with three separate outdoor perches, including a patio off one of four reception rooms at ground floor level and a second patio off the kitchen at basement level. Both have glass partitions “to protect from onshore breezes” and both "enjoy sunshine until late on summer evenings”, says the owner. The third platform is a well-sheltered, roofed veranda in the lower tier of the tropical garden.
The views could also be enjoyed from inside the house, from any of the rear rooms, including two of the four bedrooms, as well as the kitchen-diner and three of the reception rooms (one reception room at the front of the house has through-views, thanks to double doors).
It’s a big step for the retired sea-captain to downsize with his wife, as the house has been in his family since the 1940s, handed down over three generations, but the 190 sq m home has outgrown them, since kids flew the nest.
Selling no 1 is Lawrence Sweeney of Savills and he says it’s been very well-cared for over the years.
“Any work that needed to be done was done: the roof, the windows (to the rear); a new boiler was fitted in the last 12 months, gas central heating is zoned, the house was recently treated to a decorative overhaul; the kitchen stove is a Henley Druid 30kw, the largest in the range," says Mr Sweeney.
He adds that No 1 is in great shape for a 200-year-old home.
His €525,000 guide price looks pretty attractive for what's on offer at this end-of-terrace home just minutes from the centre of Cobh town.
Mr Sweeney says it’s “the pick of the bunch” on the terrace, given its size and garden (the other houses have terraces/patios, but not gardens).
The last time a house on the terrace sold was in 2022, when No 2, which also featured in these pages, made €505,000 with Johanna Murphy, from a starting price of €495,000. If the home featured here makes at or above the asking price, it will set a new record for the terrace.
A charming period property with superlative views and an oasis-like tropical garden. Ideal for a family.
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