A Cork garden grown over half a century: Inside Laurel Wood, Farran, at €790,000

Set on two acres, the grounds of lovely Laurel Wood have been creatively shaped by its engineer owner and his green fingered wife

Laurel Wood, Farren

Ovens, Co Cork
€790,000
Size	213 sq m (2293 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	3 / 4
BER	B3

RIGHT about now Fota Gardens are swarming with gazillions of kids in frantic pursuit of the clues that will lead to the holy grail of the Easter season, that is, the great big sugar-packed, glitter-wrapped orb of happiness dreamt up by someone like Cadbury, and as firmly embedded in Easter celebrations as Palm Sunday.

Laurel Wood, Farran

Much of the fun of the annual Easter Egg Trail at Fota House is down to the wonderfully immersive landscape, tailor-made for exploring winding trails, hidden nooks, shaded glades, lush greenery, and exotic shrubbery.

Imagine then having a miniature version of Fota Gardens on your doorstep? That’s sort of how it feels at Laurel Wood, a flowery bower painstakingly created over the best part of half a century by the Feeneys, the couple who bought the house on 2.18 acres in the late 1970s.

“When we bought the house, we knew nothing about gardening and it was a bit of a wilderness. We didn’t even know there was a stream on the land because you couldn’t see it. But every year we would work on a different piece of it and we did have people advising us as well,” says Margaret Feeney, the green-fingered household member.

Professional advice came from a variety of quarters over the decades including from the late Brian Cross, landscaper and garden designer; horticulturist Margaret Griffin, former owner of Griffin’s garden centre in Dripsey, and the late plantswoman Chris Fehily, whose own private garden on the shores of Inniscarra Lake attracted hundreds of visitors.

These days, the beautifully matured grounds of Laurel Wood are littered with plant and tree species too numerous to mention.

Centre stage this time of year are magnificent magnolias and camellias of varying hues. Lurking in the wings are rhododendrons, acers, tree ferns, hellebores, hostas — you name it, it’s there — right down to the still-in-bloom purple winter heather that traces its way down along the run of steps through the tiered garden.

 At the bottom tier is a natural stream, crossed by a couple of wooden foot bridges, made by Margaret’s husband, Colm Feeney. 

With a background in civil and structural engineering the garden bridges were child’s play compared to the task of helping design actual bridges such as Nano Nagle Bridge in Cork City, and the bridges that form part of the Carrigtwohill and Midleton bypasses, which Colm did in his role with Joda Engineering Consultants (he is a former MD).

Colm was also involved in various extensions to their 1970s bungalow, which they bought upon returning from Australia in 1979.

“We were looking for somewhere with space, and proximity to Ballincollig, where Margaret was teaching,” Colm says, adding that it was handy to Model Farm Rd too, where he was based.

They fell for the elevated setting at Laurel Wood, land that was once part of the Clarke Estate, owned by a wealthy Anglo-Irish family who had a successful milling enterprise in Cork City. The Farran land was their country demesne and the remains of an old mill are still visible from Laurel Wood. In fact the mill race fed into the Glen stream that flows through their garden.

The bungalow at Laurel Wood was built in 1972 and while the original house was “quite small” it’s double that size now, a roomy 213 sq m, thanks to a trio of extensions, with advice from architect Tom Coughlan of Coughlan DeKeyser, whom Colm had worked with on various contracts.

The house was extended on three sides, with the roof raised at one end and the kitchen extended outwards, while the main bedroom, with southwest facing windows and a door to the upper terrace, as well as an en suite and dressing room, was added at the far end.

Bay windows were added too and the entire house is as light-filled as a glasshouse at noon, especially the dining/sun room, with its wraparound glazing, vaulted ceiling, and garden views.

The south/southwest aspect at Laurel Wood is a godsend for the patio, a few tiers down from the main house, bathed in the perfume of well chosen shrubbery and shaded by a towering Atlantic Cedar. 

It overlooks a copper-roofed tree house — that resembles a giant birdhouse — made by Colm for his own children, and just as appreciated by his grandchildren.

When his daughters were growing up, they appreciated having a separate study space — a garage (with bathroom) was converted to a study. More recently it’s been used as a home-office and gym.

Everything about Laurel Wood house revolved around family, so with their own kids reared, the couple are planning to downsize. Norma Healy of Sherry FitzGerald is the selling agent and she reckons a family will snap it up, given the magnificent standout gardens, readymade gym/den/home-office, multiple reception rooms and four bedrooms, most with doors to the upper terrace. 

Buyers will also be swayed by the impressive B3 energy rating — take a bow the engineer in the house — which takes on added significance as ongoing instability in the Middle East continues to affect global energy supply and prices.

Ms Healy says the house has enjoyed “a high standard of care” and is in “excellent decorative order”. She adds that the Farran location is rock solid, with “a strong sense of community and an excellent range of activities”, including the Lee Valley Golf Club and nearby Farran Forest Park (also once part of the Clarke estate, now home to forest trails, zip wire adventures, lots of deer and the National Rowing Centre).

Gardens at Laurel Wood

Moreover as Laurel Wood is just off the main N22, it offers easy access to Macroom, to Ballincollig, and to Cork City’s western suburbs, where there’s a concentration of hospitals and universities.

The guide price for Laurel Wood is €790,000.

VERDICT: Who needs Fota with this on the doorstep? Gorgeous family fare in a wonderful setting, with easy access to Cork City’s western suburbs.