€575k for a rather grand berth by the Royal Cork Yacht Club 

Deluxe apartment living in Crosshaven 

The former Grand Hotel, where apartment No 2 is up for sale 

Crosshaven, Co Cork
€575,000
Size	132 sq m (1,415 sq ft)
Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	2
BER	C1

A DEEP, deep love of the sea and sailing, and several downsize moves too, brought the owners to this luxe apartment at the former Grand Hotel in Crosshaven a number of years ago, happily making it a safe- from-the-sea home.

Taking in the view from the balcony at The Grand

The couple had first moved over 40 years ago — having reared two children — from one of the great Rochestown Road houses down to Currabinny. There, they developed a large dormer house, Strand Lodge, on an acre, over several decades, complete with boathouse on part of its 100m of shoreline directly facing the clubhouse, jetties, and pontoons of the venerable (founded 1720) Royal Cork Yacht Club (RCYC).

Strand Lodge was put up for sale in 2016, guiding €985,000 when it appeared in these pages, later selling in 2022 for €940,000, according to the Price Register.

The next downsize move occurred over a decade ago when fine furniture and possessions made the move over the water, from Currabinny’s Strand Lodge to No 2 The Grand, on the other side of the Owenabue estuary by the low-slung, navy-hued RCYC footprint.

The marina near The Grand

No 2 is a very decent-sized c 1,400 sq ft two-bed first-floor apartment, with its own private lift access, and is just one of 12 in the conversion job done in the early 2000s by low-scale developer Val O’Connor, who also did the conversion of the old CBC school in Cork City to apartments a quarter of a century or so ago.

No 2 is likely to be the ‘Grandest of the Grand’, given the quality of fit-out, finishes, and (right now anyway) furniture and fine art, with lots of paintings and prints of Cork harbour, as well as successful race horses. 

The man of the family was successful in business, as a race horse owner and as a sailor, even having been commodore of the Royal Cork in his day.

The place is steeped in Crosshaven history, of course, with the former Grand Hotel built in 1887 (at a cost of £5,300) with a dormer-attic design and undulating bay-windowed façade by James F McMullen, back when Crosshaven was in its (first) heyday as a seaside resort.

 It’s now well into its second wave of popularity, only as a full-time residential location of choice of late.

After the Grand Hotel’s popularity faded, it was converted to offices for a period, and was owned by the late Denis Doyle , doyen of Cork’s sailing, shipping, and stevedoring sector, who also owned Crosshaven boatyard for a period.

Despite the changes of use, The Grand has retained its grandeur, with high ceilings and graceful room proportions, while the aspect has only ‘filled in’ as more and more boats now line the view in front of its principal apartments.

From its Lower Road Crosshaven setting, its’ still an imposing edifice.

• Bit of local history? Earlier owners of The Grand were the Hayes family, who gave land in front of the hotel so that the RCYC could move from Cobh to Crosshaven in the 1960s. Among those who worked there were Bob Geldof’s parents, with the singer’s father, Robert Geldof, managing it for a period. Belgian-born Zenon Geldof, Bob’s grandfather, was chef and manager here from 1919 to 1921, also working at the Hydro in Blarney, the Plaza Restaurant in Dublin, and on the Cunard Line and the ueen Mary.

Selling agent for the immaculate apartment No 2 is Malcolm Tyrrell, of Cohalan Downing (who also sold Strand Lodge in Currabinny for the same family) and he guides it at €575,000.

It has direct lift access to its long entry hall, and off it are two en suite bedrooms with lots of storage, principal drawing room (not a word used in many apartment descriptions), and open kitchen/dining room with Miele, Gaggenau, and Neff appliances… money wasn’t spared.

It has a utility area, electric heating, access for balcony for RCYC, estuary, and Crosshaven/harbour/sailing views, and easy parking outside, as well as stair and lift access, with a c €600 pa maintenance charge for the lift, plus fairly substantial €5,700 pa service charges.

VERDICT: How Grand is this?