House of the Week: Watergrasshill cottage transformed into one-off split-level luxe home

The modernised, extended and renovated bungalow on 0.8 acre grounds at Skehanagh has style, space, and versatility

Skehanagh, Watergrasshill 

Watergrasshill, Cork
€795,000
Size	278 sq m (2,975 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	3
BER	B1

Not only did a young couple opt to grow a 1990s era bungalow/cottage by three or even four times its original size to deliver this c 3,000 sq ft adaptable family home, they now have the appetite to do it all again — only closer to family supports, with two small children in tow.

The duo had bought a compact fairly modern home just outside Watergrasshill, at a townland called Skehanagh, about eight years ago with the notion of perhaps living in it for a period, but instead went all out, and upgraded and extended, to produce this one-off, with split level interior and a glass corridor link to a 300 sq ft lofted garage, with den, gym or man-cave up top.

They had the confidence to tackle it, to a design by CEA architects, as one half of the couple works in Jones Engineering and was able to supervise a direct labour delivery, while his other half works in Dornan Engineering and took control of the finances.

It all came together for them by Christmas 2019 “just before Covid struck,” the man on the house recalls ruefully, while admitting they had at least plenty of space to get used to and finesse as a result of the various lockdowns which followed from 2020.

Since, too, they’ve been joined by two small children, aged three and under: with school futures on the horizon in his native Knockraha near his folks and roots, they’ve decided to sell and move. They’ve agreed a deal on an existing property which they also hope to enlarge and upgrade “but maybe not as big as this, and so we’re selling and will go again in Knockraha.”

Their energy and enthusiasm has to be admired: for those who don’t share those qualities, their home which is now on the open market is an expansive, well-considered rock-up, walk-in option, listed with estate agent Kyle Kennedy with a €795,000 AMV, reflecting its size, 0.8 acre grounds, its level of finish, its B energy rating, and the adaptable interior and linkages.

The design by CEA worked with a slight slope on the site, so now there’s a lower ground level “which would make an ideal self-contained area, with potential for multi-generational living,” says agent Kyle Kennedy and it has worked like this for the current occupants already with a ‘gran in residence’ for a period.

He says the original cottage was modest, but clearly is now more spectacular with style, creature comforts, space aplenty and versatility too…it’s a different picture to what it was before.

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PS: curious as to the transformation? Go on the Google Streetview which accompanies this online listing... it speaks volumes as to the vision this young couple had for their purchase (the Price Register shows a listing at €297,500 for Skehanagh, Watergrasshill in ’19)…blink and you’d have missed it, not much to see back then, bar ‘potential’).

“We pretty much gutted it and built around it, to the side and back and linked it to the garage,” says one of the owners of their design which really transformed what had preceded it and “it was to be our ‘forever home',” he adds. Until home parish Knockraha came (re)calling...

Just on the market, it’s already getting interest from those looking for a large family home and especially those already living in and around the vastly expended Watergrasshill hinterland, just a few minutes off the M8 Cork-Dublin motorway and a few minutes only from Watergrasshill itself, says agent Mr Kennedy adding that its B1 BER also means a Green mortgage rate reduction for qualifying purchasers.

Features include an entrance door surround in Liscannor stone, an open plan kitchen/dining/living area with window views toward the Nagle mountains, wood-burning stoves in several rooms on top of the B1 BER (air to water heating and Ducon concrete slab for heat retention in the new section), plus upgraded insulation in the ‘old’ section, super main bedroom suite with rainfall shower in the en suite and dressing room, easy navigation of the various internal levels, some double height spaces, and the knacky all-weather glazed link to the adjacent garage.

VERDICT: Try getting this amount of space, finishes and features in a B rated home closer to the city. Good luck with that.