To the waters and the woods at €825k prestige Currabinny home

Bracing sea air and the forest’s ferny floor are part of the package for residents of The Terrace

1 the Terrace, Currabinny

Currabinny, Cork
€825,000
Size	326 sq m (3509 sq ft)
Bedrooms	6
Bathrooms	3
BER	Pending

When you follow the lane down to The Terrace in Currabinny, land on the seaward side suddenly falls away and all that separates you from the glare and sparkle of Cork Harbour is a low stone wall. If the sun is out and the wind is high and every ripple of fast-moving water is catching the light, you could find yourself fervently praying that maybe, some day, you could live there.

Those lucky enough to already live on The Terrace have this full-throttle coastal panorama from every harbour-facing window. Across the water, sitting neatly into sloping green hills, is the pretty village and yachting mecca of Crosshaven, a forest of masts and riggings.

The Terrace is the sort of location any sailor worth his salt would love to live on. Historically, it’s associated with naval officers, wealthy Cork City merchants, and the professional elite with the financial clout to own a seasonal or secondary home away from the madding crowd. Early 20th century census records show single-family households with servants as typical of those living in this striking row of three-storey, Victorian 1860s-built villas.

About a century later, keen sailor Arthur McAdoo (pictured below with dog Freckles) bought No 1.

“We’re a sailing family with a lifelong association with Currabinny and my father bought the house in 1957,” says one household member.

Fortune looked favourably upon Arthur, a good egg and a gentleman, because he got the best site in the row. While mid-terrace homes had no scope for sideways expansion, there were no such limitations at end-of-terrace No 1. When Arthur bought it, it already had a ‘new’ wing, added around 1900. While other homes in the row are four-beds, No 1 has half a dozen bedrooms. Its corner position means it also has a side and rear garden, instead of the small yard that other homes have. It even has room for a garage-cum-boathouse. It gets great light, too: While the entire terrace has that most favourable of south-facing aspects, No 1’s gable end faces west, ergo, great light until sundown.

The brightest rooms at No 1 are to the front, where light is bolstered by canted bay windows and exceptionally high ceilings. It pours into the ground-floor sitting room and main bedroom overhead. When the front door is open, the hallway is radiant, because a glazed door inside the porch keeps draughts out and lets light and views in. You could stand there and lose yourself for hours.

After Arthur — well-known in scouting and sporting circles — passed away in 2009, the house became more of a holiday property. A graceful home, it shares a communal front garden with the rest of the terrace; each household looks after the section closest to home. The sense of community is strong in this charming cul-de-sac.

“It’s one of the things I’ve loved most about Currabinny: The fantastic community we have and, of course, the proximity to water,” says No 1’s vendor.

Proximity to Coillte-managed Currabinny Woods is yet another blessing of life on The Terrace. There’s instant access from the rear of No 1. The vendor has enjoyed its walking trails and has fond memories of childhood days whiled away in the unique octagonal teahouse at the crown of a hill inside the woodland. In her own home, inside a glass frame, is a china plate from a tea-set left there by past generations, when the octagon was used for formal picnics by upper-class residents of The Terrace and nearby Manor House, who travelled by horse and carriage along forest paths to stables and coach houses behind The Terrace. (The garage/boathouse at No 1 was once a coach house).

There’s an olde world charm to No 1 and much worth retaining, but new owners are looking at substantial upgrades. They have good bones to work with: The main rooms are beautifully proportioned. Two interconnected, ground-floor reception rooms are linked via double doors that retreat into the dividing wall. It’s a Victorian design feature widely copied in modern builds; what we call space-saving ‘pocket doors’.

Dennis Guerin, of Frank V Murphy, is selling No 1 and he expects local and overseas interest, weighted towards buyers with a passion for sailing (the Royal Cork Yacht Club is less than a nautical mile away) or with a desire to live by the coast.

The house has some “‘major pluses”, he says, principally the extra accommodation created by the extension, as well as the boathouse and rear garden. He points out, too, that once the new motorway from Cork City to Ringaskiddy is completed in 2028, travel times will reduce considerably between Currabinny and the city/Cork Airport.

Mr Guerin’s price for No 1 is €825,000. It’s upgraded neighbour sold in 2024 for €810,000.

VERDICT : Glittering, harbour-side setting, magnificent woodland, and breathtaking views make this gracious home in a terrace-with-pedigree hard to beat.