Oodles of va va voom for €1.6m in deluxe Crosshaven home 

A kid zone, fire pit and bike trails are all in the mix at five-bed Beechville House, a polished family home near Crosshaven village 

Crosshaven, Cork
€1.595m
Size	468sq m (5,038sq ft)
Bedrooms	5
Bathrooms	5
BER	A3

Two framed State of Virginia number plates on the walls of Beechville House hint at its owners’ globetrotting lifestyle.

Links to the motor trade have taken them from Cork, to Britain, and to the USA, before doing a handbrake turn back to Cork again in 2021, where they bedded down in Brookwood, above the Crosshaven Rd.

Really, you’d hardly know the estate exists: the only giveaway is the pillared entrance on the main road below. You could easily mistake it for someone’s private driveway as homes in this discrete cul-de-sac are cloaked from view by ancient and lovely woodland.

Drake's Pool, below Brookwood

Brookwood isn’t an estate in the strict sense; it’s more a collection of highly individualised properties — the kind we call “whoppers” — rather than a uniform suburban development.

The manner in which the ‘estate’ evolved in this deliciously low-density setting, within 78 acres of woodland, was not typical of a housing scheme. Accounts in the Irish Examiner state that site buyers and vendors had to sign forms agreeing to a cap of 10 houses — ensuring Brookwood’s exclusivity ’til doomsday. The first homes appeared around the early 1990s and, at planners’ insistence, were designed along the lines of a more traditional dormer, albeit with a great deal more heft. More were delivered in the 2000s and one — No 3 — was knocked and replaced by a 5,300sq ft contemporary, flat-roofed dwelling that sold in 2023 for €1.5m.

The owners of Beechville House believe their home — in the townland of French Furze, high above the main road between Carrigaline and Crosshaven where the Owenabue River swells to its most scenic at Drakes Pool — was built around 2002. It was “lobster red” when they first saw it, after auctioneer and family friend Philip Hosford sourced it off-market via Carrigaline-based estate agent Michael Piggott.

Having lived for a number of years in a substantial property in Virginia “across the Potomac river from Washington DC” they were looking for something similar in Cork, where they both grew up.

“We were moving from a sizable property in Virginia and we wanted the same kind of space and we wanted a good garden — that was a big factor in our decision,” the couple say.

Just how central the garden was is borne out by the money they’ve pumped into it over the past five years. From a starting point of a 1.7a site “taken over by brambles” it’s now a haven for child’s play and outdoor entertaining, a combination of carefully landscaped sitting out areas and banks of expertly curated plants, mixed through with woodland and peppered with clumps of wildflowers: bluebells, foxgloves, montbretia — depending on the season. 

During the summer months, the ‘snowball’ blooms of huge, round, white hydrangeas cascade along the drive. Right about now, magnolias are doing themselves proud. While the woman of the house likes gardening, they hired professionals to do the heavy lifting at the large site.

“Dominic Cullinane of DC Garden Designs was with us for about six months,” she says. 

The expertise shows. Bike trails marked out with woodchip run right around the site. A southwest facing patio off the main open-plan living area was extended and connected to an upper patio/terrace via an impressive set of steps, flanked by landscaped banks. At the centre of the upper terrace is a firepit, a favoured area for making s’mores.

A third patio off what feels like the “children’s wing” is also linked by steps to the upper terrace, where all the groundwork (and wiring) is done for the installation of a cabin with sauna and gym.

 It’s down to the next owners to finish the job as the current set are returning to the UK with a new role on the cards for the family petrolhead.

The 10-house cap at Brookwood gifted its homes with very generous sites, all woven into woodland that was once part of the Aghamarta estate, historic seat of the O’Grady family, that stretched from the Owenabue Estuary back to Fountainstown and towards Crosshaven. Nowadays, Brookwood backs on to farmland, while its sylvan setting is a magnet for birdlife and wildlife, including the occasional deer.

It’s been an idyllic setting for the couple and their young family, who have also made the most of local blessings such as the highly successful old rail track walkway from Carrigaline to Crosshaven — literally across the road from the bottom of the drive into Brookwood, a spot now earmarked for a new bus stop. 

As fans of water activities, they’ve made good use of nearby facilities (the RCYC is down the road, as is the wide open mouth of Cork Harbour). They had a boot room fitted in a back hallway where everyone has their own storage space for life-jackets and all the other bits and bobs that go with leisure craft.

Another hallway has built in presses for ‘days at the beach’ paraphernalia — both Fountainstown and Myrtleville beaches are a short drive away.

The boot room is just one example of skilled carpentry at Beechville; another is the staircase, where the main flight rises to a landing overlooked by a huge, arched window, before separating into two flights. 

It’s a beautiful piece of woodwork and one of several internal changes made by the current owners, who also installed wood panelling in the main hallway and up along the staircase.

The entrance hall, with its dramatic ceiling height, makes quite a statement.

It’s a light filled space thanks to a giant fan light over the front door. A wood-burning stove throws out great heat below a galleried landing, from where each year a star was carefully placed on top of a towering Christmas tree.

Off to one side of the hallway, double doors open into an open-plan kitchen/dining room, where the dining end is framed by a big bay window, with a similar look at the kitchen end, which also has a window seat. 

Storage is good: underneath the granite countertop of the large island unit which also has a wooden breakfast bar; and through a door into a hidden walk-in pantry/chill out zone for the Hungarian vizlas that have been the families’ steadfast companions throughout their travels.

Off the kitchen is an elegant sitting room with bioethanol fireplace, a generous array of tall windows and sliding glass doors to an expansive patio.

At the far end of the house is a formidable TV room with vaulted ceiling, linked to a games room — with pool table, drum kit, and keyboard — glazed on all sides, with double doors to another large patio. 

On a mezzanine above the TV room is a foosball table and bean bags: The whole thing is a kids’ zone on steroids. Off the mezzanine — accessed via a staircase from the TV room — is a guest suite big enough to accommodate an entire family.

Each of the couple’s three kids has their own double bedroom with en suite and plenty of room for study desks. The main Jack and Jill bathroom was black and gold “like something out of The Sopranos”, but they whipped it out and it’s now a study of good taste.

 So is the roomy en suite off the main bedroom, which also has a walk-in wardrobe — and, yes — a shoe closet.

Even with enough rooms for a small army, there are more: a well-appointed study, another elegant sitting room, a utility, a guest loo. There’s a garage too, accessible internally and externally.

Beechville House is spec-ed up to its eyeballs and future proofed against rising energy costs thanks to an impressive A3 energy rating. Year-‘round comfort is guaranteed by features like geothermal heating, underfloor heating on both floors, and 16 solar panels.

With so much going for it, what, then, is the guide price? The answer, say joint agents Trevor O’Sullivan of Lisney SIR and Philip Hosford of H Property, is €1.595m.

Mr O’Sullivan says Beechville House is “a rare opportunity to acquire a truly exceptional family home in a setting of stunning natural beauty” close to Carrigaline and Crosshaven, and less than a half hour drive from Cork city/Cork Airport.

VERDICT: Family all the way at this deluxe home in a gloriously naturalistic setting with easy access to schools, retail, and leisure activities.