Kinsale poised for new €6.25m house price record

US billionaire James Berwind is looking to extend his Kinsale property portfolio, currently worth c €20m

Prospect Villa, Scilly, Kinsale, Co Cork, went on sale on June 10 for €5.5m.

THE summer sizzle isn’t the only thing breaking records: Kinsale looks set for a new house price benchmark amid local reports that American buyers are poised to strike a €6.25m deal that would net them Prospect Villa, a superbly restored Victorian home high above the town.

While the scenic Cork coastal town is no stranger to premium property prices, the scale of this transaction is the talk of Kinsale. The name being mentioned is US billionaire James Berwind who, with his husband Kevin Clark, has already invested about €20m in Kinsale since 2023, starting with the purchase for €4.5m of Sprayfield in Sandycove, a Georgian waterside property that has since been largely demolished and is in the process of being rebuilt.

 Further acquisitions included two adjoining properties, with a modest seaside cottage bought for c €2.8m and a dormer bungalow purchased for almost €5m. In 2024, Mr Berwind acquired contemporary home Seaspray on picturesque Scilly Walk for €5.5m, setting a new house price record in the town. That now looks set to be eclipsed by the pending €6.25m deal involving Prospect Villa.

Prospect Villa, Scilly, Kinsale is poised to set a new house price record in the coastal town

The 1870s villa, on an elevated, private site above Kinsale town, with panoramic harbour views, is on 2.72a of landscaped grounds and was painstakingly renovated and restored in 2014 by Belclare Projects Ltd, headed up by architect Maeve Cotter, who was for a time site architect on Castlehyde, Michael Flatley's Fermoy mansion. 

Ms Cotter also worked on the restoration of Charles Fort, Kinsale's landmark 17th century military fortress. She restored her former home Seamark, in Glandore, which sold in 2012 for €3.7m, according to the price register and bought Mount Prospect Villa - now Prospect Villa – the same year for €800,000. Initially uninhabitable, she moved in with her husband Martin in 2014 and they invested €1m in an extension and complete refurbishment.

Garden studio with wave-shaped roof 

David Lane kitchen at Prospect Villa

 The four-bedroom, c 4,500 sq ft villa now has a bespoke handcrafted library by David Crowley Furniture, a contemporary kitchen by David Lane Kitchens, a home cinema and exceptional finishes throughout, not to mention an exquisite, glass-walled separate garden studio with a wave-shaped roof. A strong focus on energy efficiency earned it a B1 BER, no mean achievement for a period home.

 Bedroom with a view at Prospect Villa

Joint agents Sherry FitzGerald and Sheehy Brothers Auctioneers are handling the sale of Prospect Villa, which is bordered by High Road, River Road and Breakheart Hill,
Neither agent would be drawn on Mr Berwind's involvement. Mr Berwind is an heir to the mining dynasty Berwind Corporation, a privately held company headquartered in Pennsylvania.