€935k Home in Carrigaline's Wheatfields brings every grain of exclusivity, with no chaff 

Catherine Shanahan admires top class finishes at Carrigaline home

39 Wheatfields, Carrigaline, Cork

Carrigaline, Co Cork
€935,000
Size	265sq m (2,852sq ft)
Bedrooms	5
Bathrooms	1
BER	B2

Carrigaline's Wheatfields is technically a housing estate, though not in the typical sense, as the usual sea of lookalike three-bed semi-Ds is notably absent.

The distinctive character of each of its 50 or so homes is down to the manner in which the land was developed after its owners, the Loftus family, sold fully-serviced sites to individual buyers starting in 2004. The last site sold in 2014.

Homes were designed to reflect individual tastes, so while the one constant is scale (big), house styles are as varied as the weather. Sale prices have been equally varied: During the boom years, Wheatfield homes reportedly changed hands for in excess of €800,000; albeit values softened significantly in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crash.

For the next 15 years, nothing breached €600,000, until the sale three years ago of No 6 for €870,000. This price peak held the record until last month, when No 40 entered seven-figure territory, the first home in Wheatfields to make €1m. Helping set the new record was Scott O’Sullivan of Sherry FitzGerald and, as good news travels fast, the same agent is back, along with Sherry Fitz colleague Ann O’Mahony, to sell neighbouring No 39.

No 39 Wheatfields is a good deal smaller than No 40 (by about 130sq m, as the latter was built with a compliant second floor) but it’s tremendously well finished and has an attic that’s ready to convert (floored, high ceiling, velux windows).

At 265sq m, it’s already a generous home, with a wide, stylish hallway, and a deep-set dining/family room, with a custom-made media wall, panelling, and a bespoke fireplace with a stove in redbrick surround. Along the rear wall, French doors open to a deck and west-facing lawn; another set opens into the stylish kitchen, brightly lit by half a dozen veluxes, set into a vaulted ceiling.

Out front is a sitting room with bay window and filling the other bay is a downstairs bedroom, next to a guest loo.

The smallest of four overhead bedrooms is used as a study/home office, while the main bedroom — also with vaulted ceiling — has an en suite, walk-in wardrobe and double doors to a Juliet balcony overlooking the back garden.

Mr O’Sullivan and Ms O’Mahony have already started viewings and, so far, it’s mostly upsizers.

“We are seeing buyers who want to stay local, but who want more space, and are looking to move out of estates in Carrigaline,” the agents say.

The current owners, who bought in 2009, are returning to Melbourne, Australia, where one half of the couple is from. The agents’ guide price for this energy efficient home (BER is a B2) is €935,000.

Wheatfields is a short stroll from Carrigaline town centre and is served by a 24-hour bus route.

VERDICT: Very few houses in Carrigaline town have broken the €1m mark. The recent record-making sale in Wheatfields cements its reputation as the town’s most exclusive estate.