Ballincollig's No 1 Woodberry is the €1.15m house version of a BYD
1 Woodberry, Ballincollig
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Ballincollig, Cork |
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€1.15m |
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Size |
4332 sq ft (402 sq m |
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Bedrooms |
6 |
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Bathrooms |
7 |
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BER |
B2 |
TO hijack a motor trade acronym, Earlsfort Lodge on Greenfields Road is one of Ballincollig’s original BYDs (Build Your Dream).
A capacious home not unlike what you might find in the English countryside, it was built 25 years ago by a couple who bought the first serviced site in Woodberry.
Woodberry went on to become one of Ballincollig’s more fashionable neighbourhoods, comprised of large, detached family homes, where much dream-building took place.
The couple that built Earlsfort Lodge, Helen and Brendan, took their inspiration from an English self-build magazine and hired Cork city-based architect James Leahy to implement it.
He re-worked the design to create a very distinctive home with a split roof, steep gables and several apex windows, giving it a sort of Alpine flavour. It raised a few eyebrows at the time– the notion of buying a serviced site and building your dream home was a new concept in Ballincollig back then.
“It was the first time you could buy a site yourself and put your own home on it in Ballincollig,” Brendan says. The couple bought the site from O’Flynn Construction(O’Flynn’s had bought the land from the Murphy family) and paid €44,000 for it. It was “an expensive build” they say, which you would expect, given the size of the house. They added more with an attic conversion and the house now measures a whopping 4,332 sq ft.
No 1 Woodberry, christened Earlsfort Lodge by its owners because of the brick used to build it( Earlsfort Multi) took c15 months to complete. While the couple hired bricklayers and carpenters, Brendan looked after the tiling/plumbing, no mean feat, as there’s five en suites.
With six bedrooms and seven bathrooms, Earlsfort Lodge sounds like a ready-made B&B. It also has a great location, right next to the Ballincollig bypass, which didn’t even exist when it was built. In the years since, the road that runs by the house was modified to join the bypass.
Woodberry homes are set well back from this road, in a cul-de-sac, and Earlsfort Lodge is particularly private, tucked away on a large site at the far end.
Trees and a hedgerow and a multitude of shrubs bought over the years at Dundrum Nurseries in Tipperary shield it from passing traffic.
Earlsfort Lodge has a bounty of rooms. It starts with a double-height hallway - big enough for a piano - with an overhead mezzanine.
On one side of the hallway a living room and formal dining room are linked via steps and an archway.
On the opposite side is a fabulous open-plan space, split into different levels: family room, sunken dining area, conservatory, kitchen.
This is the heart of the home and it’s a huge, light-filled, airy space, with vaulted ceiling and feature apex windows and wall-to-wall glazing.
It looks out over the lush front garden. A side door leads to the front garden patio.
To the rear, there’s a utility off the kitchen which opens on to a very large deck, divided between a seating area and a hot tub, covered by a gazebo.
The hot tub is staying for the next owners. The rear garden is wonderfully secluded and the owners have made great use of it. They’ve loved hosting BBQs and family celebrations at Earlsfort Lodge.
“We’ve had everything here, from parties to funerals. We’ve had 100 people in the house at times.
“It’s been a great house for a family and a great house for the kids and their friends to hang out in, particularly with the two attic rooms” the owners say.
One of those rooms is a snooker room/gym, the other is used for storage, but it could be a home office. A downstairs music room/study could also be a home office. There’s a detached garage out back, with further options.
Despite Earlsfort Lodge’s size, its age and the large amount of glazing, the BER is a commendable B2. That’s down to the owners’ foresight. They installed insulating slabs during the build and Brendan put insulation between the ceiling and the first floor. About 10 years ago, he had the walls pumped. Heating is zoned.
Leaving the family home and neighbours is a wrench for Brendan and Helen, but with kids reared, they’re ripe to downsize.
Selling is Norma Healy of Sherry FitzGerald and she says Earlsfort Lodge is “an ideal family trade up” that will attract a range of buyers, from locals looking for a detached home to relocating ex-pats.She points out its proximity to the bypass for anyone travelling into CUH/UCC/MTU. Ballincollig town centre is walkable.
“It’s a wonderful family home, a perfect example of how to blend style, practicality and functionality,” Ms Healy says. Her guide price is €1.15m
Scope for a large brood at this comfortable, private family home with tasty gardens.
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