€620k Fountainstown property is home to simple seaside joys

Facing south and seaward, Fountainstown’s home is a jewel

Timon Lodge, Fountainstown, Co. Cork.

Fountainstown, Co Cork
€620,000
Size	160sq m (1,722sq ft)
Bedrooms	6
Bathrooms	3
BER	F

The aerial photograph tells you all you need to know about the sublime seafront location of Timon Lodge, one of two Fountainstown properties purchased with remarkable foresight by the late Tim O’Leary, 40-odd years ago.

On holiday with family at the time, he spotted two derelict houses across the road from Fountainstown beach.

“They were in bits, brambles growing in the windows, but he saw the potential,” says Tim’s son Colm.

His professional background — an engineer with Bord Gáis — meant Tim had the technical nous for a house renovation project. He focused on one house at a time, starting with the smaller of the two, selling it off once the work was done and using the money made on the sale to pay for his investment, and to start work on the second house.

“They called it Timon Lodge, a combination of Tim and Monica, which is my mother’s name,” says Colm.

Timon Lodge became the O’Leary holiday home, although the travel time between it and their permanent home on Skehard Rd, Blackrock, in Cork City, was not much more than 20 minutes.

“Although on paper, it sounds like lunacy — why do you need two houses 20 minutes apart — in life, it works. When you left work and parked up at Fountainstown, it was like the start of a new day, especially on long summer evenings.”

Fountainstown with Timon Lodge in the background.

Old maps show Timon Lodge was one of the first houses by Fountainstown Beach. About 120 years old, and once associated with the well-to-do Hunt family, it has the deep sills you associate with older homes, as well as original Victorian tiled flooring in the entrance porch and living room, where there’s a restored antique fireplace and a double height ceiling. The porch is open to the living room — a smart move, as it’s lined with south-facing windows on the seaward side, hence lots of light and excellent views.

There’s an even broader panorama from the sitting room, where windows create a wraparound effect. The view is of Fountainstown Beach, and Ringabella Bay, and out to Roches Point.

There’s a coastal outlook too from the kitchen/dining room, where a glazed patio door opens to a private side garden. An engineer’s eye is clear in the reconfigured layout: reception rooms face seaward and southwards, most of the half dozen bedrooms are to the rear. Four of the six are downstairs.

For the O’Learys, the decision to sell up was tough. Timon Lodge — a cornerstone of the Fountainstown landscape (see pic, centre, below) — means a great deal to the four siblings, but with their kids largely grown up and Monica less inclined to visit since her husband passed away, the decision has been made.

Scott O’Sullivan and Ann O’Mahony of Sherry FitzGerald are selling this uniquely-placed seaside villa, where generous gardens include a dropped suntrap patio, and lower grounds designed for boat storage. The guide price is €620,000.

VERDICT: Families seeking a permanent detached home 10 minutes outside of Carrigaline will be in mix. There’s warmth and character to Timon Lodge. The quintessential seaside home where the beach is your playground.