Like his famous relation Christy, Ger Ring never took his eye off the ball when building Capri Lodge

The handyman dad's dream home could be Midleton's first €1m house sale

Capri Lodge, Midleton

Midleton, Cork
€950,000
Size	334 sq m (3635 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4 / 5
Bathrooms	4
BER	A3

AFTER a tumultuous couple of years, including a marriage breakdown and living in rented accommodation, carpenter Ger Ring, a divorced dad of three, upped tools, bought a plot of land, and started the process of building a home he could be proud of.

“It was a very big mountain to climb, but it was something I wanted to do for myself and for my kids. It’s a house built with love,” Ger says.

The project started in 2019 when he bought a site on Upper Mill Road, a few minutes’ drive from Midleton town centre. Its proximity to the Owenacurra River underpinned his decision.

“I am someone who needs to be close to water, and at that site, there’s a beautiful bend in the river. My plan was to build a deck cantilevered out over it,” he says.

He recalled when he saw the site what a fortune teller had said to him many years previously.

“I think she called herself Gypsy Lee and she had a caravan in Blackpool. I remember going to her once and she told me to build a house on land ‘where the river runs through it’.” He laughs at the memory now, but it stuck with him.

Before any building could commence however, the site had to be cleared.

“The first day I walked into it, I couldn’t get more than 10ft in. To get any further, you needed a chainsaw. It was completely overgrown,” Ger says.

The workmen who helped clear the site felt everything should go, including two majestic Monterey Pine trees, more common to the fog belts of coastal California than East Cork. Ger resisted the calls to level the remarkable evergreen conifers — a decision now vindicated. 

Monteray Pines are glorious by day and by night

They’re a standout feature in the meticulously landscaped 0.7 acre grounds of Capri Lodge, where Ger, with the help of a good friend and garden hobbyist, planted more than 120 varieties of trees, flowers, and shrubs. Close runners-up in the attention-grabbing stakes are the cluster of Scots Pine conifers to the rear, now part of neighbouring land, after Ger split the site and sold off the portion closest to the river to fund his dream home.

“Costs started to get scary [based on the original house design] so I decided to split the site in two and put all of the focus on getting a house built,” he says.

He managed not to lose access to the river. By retaining a strip of land to the rear of the neighbouring plot, he can walk down to the river’s edge and fish to his heart’s content, as fishing rights came with the property.

A walkway to the rear of the neighbouring site leads from Capri Lodge to the river

“There’s a right to fish on any part of the river that’s directly adjacent to the property boundary and there are trout and salmon aplenty,” he says.

There’s scope too for that cantilevered deck. Some of the work is already done: Rostellan-based architect Andrew O’Brien drew up plans for how to do it and wiring has been extended down along the slope to the river, if new owners wanted to install lighting.

They can also take a look at the deck installed next door. It’s right at the bend in the river that first caught Ger’s attention when he decided to buy the site.

Having sold off a portion of the land to fund the house build, he sat down again with Andrew O’Brien to come up with a new design.

“We did a completely different house. I wanted something that looked simple, and this was achieved, even though it was quite a complex build,” Ger says.

Despite its complexity, it was completed within a year. Ger project managed it, utilising his own building nous and carpentry skills, doing everything from sweeping floors to putting on the roof. He recalls falling asleep against the wall one night, and waking up at 5am.

“I drove into Midleton and bought a coffee and started back at it. I was driven by a desire to provide a wonderful home for my family.” He didn’t lick his determination off a stone: Ger is the grandnephew of the man many regard as the greatest hurler in history, Christy Ring.

The home Ger delivered is the antithesis of the “single-man bedsit”, a fate he escaped, but one that he feels awaits lots of divorced dads.

“I never lost faith. I always knew I was going to do it. I feel proud of myself and it took me a long time to feel that way.” Attention to detail at Capri Lodge is admirable. First off, there’s the materials used to build it. The Italian beige brick throughout the ground floor was spotted by Ger on the Isle of Capri while on holiday. He spotted it again on a municipal building while driving from Dublin to Cork.

“I made a couple of enquiries and found it wasn’t that hard to get,” he says. The pale brick is in striking contrast to the black aluminium raised seam cladding of the upper floor. Cedar wood adds touches of warmth. A covered walkway leading to the front door has a cedar-clad ceiling. 

Walkway by night

The walkway, bounded on one side by brick columns, is an eye-catching element of the house design — and there are many. Between the arches are custom-made larch plant boxes.

 It’s gorgeous by day and sensor lighting makes it even more so by night.

The house, Ger says, is wired to the hilt, inside and out. Wiring is in place for electric gates and connects to the main bedroom, entrance hall and kitchen. It can be used to install a video link/intruder system, activated by heat recognition.

Indoors, the main living room area has a media wall with an 80-inch TV and electric dual mood and heat fire. 

Watching movies is a real treat thanks to the surround sound system with multiple speakers. A recessed feature ceiling is fitted with LED lighting. Motorised window blinds are operated using a wall switch. A king-size roof lantern funnels light down to the dining area.

 A white quartz countertop in the kitchen area is fitted with a five-ring gas hob and extractor fan.

 Windows to the rear are triple glazed and that includes a fair amount of floor-to-ceiling glazing in the open-plan kitchen/dining/living room.

Large double doors slide open to a limestone patio and composite decking to what Ger describes as “the perfect entertainment space”. In a starring role is the 32-jet hot tub with LED mood lighting, screened from the neighbours by a cedar wall.

“I wanted a home where there was no reason to leave until Monday, once you arrived home from work on a Friday. I wanted somewhere with fishing rights, a workshop (large 800sq ft garage) and an entertainment space for when friends came over,” he says.

Friends and family could stay over, no problem. Capri Lodge has five bedrooms, albeit one is currently in use as a home office. Two other ground-floor bedrooms are beyond a glass corridor, that runs along the external walkway.

 The downstairs bathrooms are quite something, overseen by an interior decorator. Art deco lighting, wainscot panelling, and exotic wallpaper are features of the guest loo.

 A separate wetroom has a mix of tiled and wallpapered walls to add texture. Back in the hallway, floor-to-ceiling windows overlook the patio.

Additional ground-floor rooms include a cosy snug/reception room, two downstairs cloakrooms, and a utility room which houses the heating system. Both floors — made of Ducon concrete — have underfloor heating.

A solid oak staircase leads to the upper floor where there are two more en suite bedrooms, including the main bedroom, which comes with a walk-in dressing room.

 A dual aspect room with surround sound and feature panelled wall, it overlooks both river and countryside. A window seat has a cushion tailored to accommodate the windows when they’re open. Out on the landing, a second window seat runs under a wide window where light floods in. The heat recovery system is housed in a storage room off the landing. The plant room is upstairs too.

Capri Lodge in Carrigogna is a large home — 3,635sq ft — a measurement that includes an 800sq ft adjoining garage with stairs to a loft space and with both electronic automatic car entry and side door access. The garage was designed with potential to convert in mind; there is also a car port to the side of the house.

While Ger used the garage as a workshop, the structural elements required to make it part of the house or to create a separate dwelling are in place. Steel beams in sections of the gable can be knocked through into the garage. A design has been drawn up, if new owners were interested. Ger reckons there’s potential to create a 1,200sq ft space (taking in a bathroom in the main house), subject to planning permission.

Ger moved into Capri Lodge in July 2022, a year after the build started. Having built his first house, aged 20, it “wasn’t his first rodeo”. There’s a lot of water, so to speak, under the bridge since then. His kids are growing up and Capri Lodge has outgrown him. His plan now is to build house number three, an upside-down home, by the water in Lower Aghada, with Andrew O’Brien again drafted in.

It’s a bittersweet decision to sell up, having put heart and soul into creating a dream home, with a terrific A3 energy rating.

“I’m very proud of the house and I’m very proud of how we turned the land from a derelict site into something so beautiful,” he says. He’s delighted he ignored the advice to knock the Monterey Pines. He loves the ecologically sound wildflower meadow off to the side of the sunny, landscaped site, albeit it’s best show is over for this year. The rest of the garden is in tip-top shape, planted with shrubs and trees that mature quickly.

Selling Capri Lodge is James Colbert of Colbert & Co who reckons Capri Lodge could be the property to lift Midleton over the €1m price barrier. While there have been homes in the wider environs to breach that mark (Oakfield House in Curragh, which featured in these pages, sold for €1.01m in 2022), there’s precious little else, if you go by the Property Price Register.

"I see this property appealing to families trading up, or a young busy couple working close by, who see the benefit of a well finished home," says Mr Colbert.

"At present I have a number of clients on our books who can afford well in excess of this amount so those price tags are no longer daunting nor should they be for East Cork. Everything you need and more is here.’’

Mr Colbert is guiding Capri Lodge at €950,000 and he reckons there’ll be good interest from upsizers, locally and further afield.

Capri Lodge is just minutes by car from Midleton town centre. East Cork golf club is 1km away. Little Island is less than 15 minutes by car and Cork City is less than a half hour away.

VERDICT: Stylish contemporary home with de-luxe touches and lots of creature comforts. Landscaping and fishing rights are a bonus.