Possibly the best house in Ballinlough on the market for €1.45m

Architect-designed five-bedroom home combines exceptional gardens, privacy and family living in one of Cork’s most sought-after suburbs

Churchyard Lane, Ballinlough. Pictures: H-Pix

Ballinlough, Cork city
€1.45m
Size	401 sq m (4318 sq ft)
Bedrooms	5
Bathrooms	5
BER	C1

THE string of mid-20th century housing estates that coil around Ballinlough create the impression of a fairly modern suburb, but the townland of Ballinlough has been visible in historical records since Tudor times. At one point, Churchyard Lane was its epicentre, close to Lough Mahon, from which the name Baile an Locha — “town of the lake” — is derived.

A landmark structure on the lane is Ballinlough House, one of several “big houses” in the townland that managed substantial farms and market gardens in later centuries. Better known in living memory as Lovett’s Restaurant, a certain generation of Corkonians will remember it as a destination for fine dining. It’s grounds now contain private apartments although the original building remains.

The lane was also home to Ballinlough co-ed national school, the precursor to Our Lady of Lourdes (girls) and St Anthony’s (boys) schools, both built as the neighbourhood shifted west towards Ballinlough Rd in the last century.

One half of the couple selling the impressive property featured here can recall the original four-classroom national school close to his family home on Churchyard Lane. As the pupil living nearest to it, he was effectively its 12-year-old “caretaker” and was entrusted with a set of keys. Having lived at the same address most of his life — albeit the house is considerably different now — he can chart the evolution of the surrounding neighbourhood. For instance the school later became a delivery office for An Post, and is now a private home. Daly’s tea importers had a place on the lane too, while Breslins’ butchers lived in the house across the road, and Silverdale — now a series of housing estates off nearby Skehard Rd — was the Breslin farm. Ardmahon Estate, adjoining Churchyard Lane, had yet to materialise. He says:

I remember when Ardmahon Estate was nothing but fields. 

It remained a fairly rural landscape, known for its market gardens, until Bradley builders got going in the 1950s and ’60s, and Ballinlough as we know it today began to take shape.

The house the vendor grew up in has evolved in tandem with the suburb of Ballinlough. The owners initially planned to renovate the original family home, but were advised instead to knock and replace it. Architect Paul Hudson of Hudson Associates Architects was drafted in with a relatively loose brief — to create a design that would “bring the garden in” while ensuring privacy.

It’s fair to say the architect exceeded expectations. The sun room of the detached 2004-built home is so enveloped in greenery that it feels like sitting outside. It’s the couples favourite spot for a morning coffee. There’s a similar indoorsy-outdoorsy effect around the dining table, which sits in an arc of windows in the open plan Glenline fittedkitchen with granite worktop and central island.

 Doors lead from both rooms to patios that face south and west. It’s as if the house sprouted from the ground and came to rest in just the right spot to capture every flicker of sunlight.

The gardens around the house were meticulously thought out by Darren Drummond Landscape Design who softened the original layout in 2012.

“We had a more formal garden, which included both patios, so we hired Darren Drummond to re-design it,” the couple say. Their brief for the landscaper was no more rigid than the brief they gave their architect.

“We are of the opinion that the professionals are the people with the skills to do the job, so we’ve always made minimal requests. And back in 2012, we had a young family and weren’t really into gardening, whereas we are interested now,” they add.

The landscaper won an award for the redesign which included replacing straight lines with curves and the result is a glorious composition of hard and soft landscaping, tiered in parts, with layers of planting and stretches of lawn, and a magnificent array of vegetation, most notably, the theatrically named dicksonia antartica - tree ferns in layman’s terms.

The owners say:

People think they are really delicate to grow, but actually they are tough as old boots and you don’t have to wrap them unless the temperature is minus six degrees celsius and stays at that. All you need do is give them plenty of water and cut off the old fronds and they will thrive.

The trees ferns add a touch of the sub-tropical but they are just one element of an impressive collection. Some of the more mature specimens date to the owner’s youth, planted by his parents, themselves keen gardeners. Among them are a magnificent Taxus baccata or common yew, prized for its structural majesty, as well as a Persian ironwood, a weeping purple beech, a Chilean myrtle, half a dozen or so acers, rhododendrons, magnolias, azaleas, and a water feature. The cumulative effect is a half acre garden of remarkable richness and botanical diversity. 

You can walk out into it, via french doors, from each of the main downstairs rooms — including all four living rooms (or living room/ playroom/music room/ home office take your pick— or you can enjoy it from the upstairs windows of all five bedrooms, three with box bays.

The owners maintain the garden these days and even though it’s large, they say it’s only busy “early and later in the year”. A powered garden shed provides storage.

Indoors, accommodation is expansive in this 401sq m home, starting with the cavernous inner hall, a double height space that acts like a light well thanks to a fabulous roof light in its vaulted ceiling. 

The centre piece is a dramatic staircase by Design Warehouse, made of steamed beech, a treatment that makes the timber temporarily flexible, allowing it to be curved. At the top of the staircase is a vast landing, with a home office off to one side, as well as an en suite bedroom, while the main bedroom has bespoke furniture by Beara-based Hans Leptien of Hanson Furniture, and a walk-through wardrobe that leads to an en suite.

Down a long corridor, two of three more double bedrooms have bespoke Sliderobes that double as walk-in wardrobes. The bedrooms share two bathrooms, one with eye-catching silver tiles. 

Like the living rooms, all are on the same side of the house, overlooking the rear garden. At the end of the corridor a laundry chute drops down to the utility, a time-saving exercise in a busy household that was home to four daughters.

Selling the attractive villa-style home, tucked off the Well Rd, are Brian Olden and Malcolm Tyrrell of Cohalan Downing and they says it’s “an exceptional residence”.

“It’s been designed and finished with meticulous attention to detail and the landscaped gardens offer an exceptional level of seclusion, not to mention the perfect setting for outdoor dining and entertaining,” the agents say.

Some of that detail includes concrete floors on ground and first floor, facilitating underfloor heating on both levels. The energy rating is a C1. The guide price is €1.45m.

The agents also highlight the location: near Douglas village, a short spin from Cork city centre, close to schools, green spaces, a greenway, public transport, sporting facilities — essentially all the asks of a growing household. The upshot is the agents expect a great deal of interest from families seeking to trade up or relocating back to Cork.It’s been a fantastic location for the current owners to rear their family and they don’t plan on moving far. Having hived off 0.25a from what was a 0.75a site, their new base is literally over the garden wall.

VERDICT: Quality of the build, some notable architectural features and truly exceptional gardens make this property one of the best in Ballinlough. Perfect family trade-up.