A four-bed in East Cork is straight from the pages of a magazine

Love stories can begin in the most unexpected places, and, for the owners of this Lisgoold property, it was in the reception area of the Irish Examiner office.The couple’s love story with their property began a few years later, when they found the ideal plot for their dream home, where else, but in the pages of the Irish Examiner Property supplement? But this was only after they had danced their first dance at an Examiner staff member’s wedding, dated, married, and ceased working in marketing for the Examiner.“The site, the last one left out of seven in a quiet cul de sac in Lisgoold, had planning permission and was perfect,” reveals the female half of the couple, who admits to having fallen in love with it immediately, despite experiencing pregnancy nausea on the way there.“We put a deposit on it within 48 hours and moved into our newly built home 18 months later,” she reveals, adding that they still have the Property supplement with site ad put in by auctioneer Matt Fallon.While the couple loved the site at No 1 Church Hill, they weren’t completely happy with the house design that came with the planning permission, which was for a large, partly stone clad property similar in style to the other six.“We kept the integrity of the design, but made some changes — added extra French doors and windows, including the tall, church-style window at the front. Inside, we took out walls, made the rooms bigger, and created more open-plan space.”They added an attic conversion to create a spacious top-floor home office, from where she operates an executive search company, and he runs an Insuretech company.When satisfied with the alterations, they got Leahy Brothers to build their four-bed, four-bathroom, 321 sq m house in 2004.“We splashed out on a solid wood-framed kitchen with walnut worktops and a large island designed by Nick Moody, of Coach House Kitchen,” says the owner, adding that their other big extravagance was to fit high-grade Hele double-glazed windows.They originally fitted timber flooring on all the ground-floor rooms, but in 2017 they replaced these with German-engineered Mammut floors, which she says are more hardwearing and come with a 30-year guarantee.As part of the process, they put down insulation underneath, and this improved the BER rating, which is now a B2.Despite the changes in flooring and some repainting, it’s still essentially the dream house they built in 2005.Providing them with the open-plan space they wanted, it has an extra-large living area, which stretches from front to rear and has three sets of patio doors, a front bay window, and a limestone fireplace with a stove. And because it has an entire wall of cupboards and bookshelves, the family has always called it the library.Across at the other side of the house is a huge kitchen/dining/living room, which has a lounge area with a bay window and a fireplace with an insert stove, as well as a kitchen with white-painted units and a Stanley.Off to the side is a spacious sunroom/dining room with large windows and a vaulted ceiling.“Most of the rooms in the house are painted in neutral colours, but, after a few years, we chose a shade of teal for the sunroom called ‘Into the Stratosphere’, which gives it a warmer feel,” says the owner.Downstairs rooms include a well-equipped utility and a guest WC, while the upstairs has four bedrooms, including two with en suites.The main bathroom has American oak cabinetry with cream marble countertops, and above the bath a Velux, which the owners say allows them to stargaze at bath time. Both en-suite bathrooms have walnut cabinetry and marble counters.During the pandemic, the owners turned one of the bedrooms into a home gym. The home office on the top floor is a large, carpeted space, arranged so that each of the two desks is situated under a Velux window.Creating the mature, private gardens that surround the property has been a work in progress for the owners.When they started out, their site was enclosed by a low stone wall and had a bank of builders’ rubble left over from the construction of the other houses.“We turned the bank of rubble in to a feature and used it to create an area with sloping beds and a small patio area with steps up to it.” By 2020, they had grown high hedges to surround and shelter the lawned gardens, but the sloping beds at the side had never produced the foliage or colour they had hoped for.“We removed all the builders’ rubble and bought in 26 tonnes of manure-enriched soil to replace it and have planted spring bulbs, salvia, verbena, grasses and wild roses,” says the owner.Accessed by an automated gate, the gardens also have a sandstone patio, lawns, and a side garden with a cherry blossom and a central bed planted with camellias and rhododendrons.Empty nesters who have seen their two offspring off to college, the couple are now set to downsize. Selling through Lawrence Sweeney, of Savills, their house is listed with a guide of €595,000.Describing it a spacious, beautifully maintained home, Mr Sweeney expects it to appeal to a trader-up buyer who wants to move out of the city to find comfort, space, and privacy. Located at the edge of Lisgoold village, no 1 Church Hill is located 9km from Midleton and 21km from the Dunkettle bypass. VERDICT: It seems entirely appropriate that this very well planned, well-loved home should now feature in the pages of the ‘Irish Examiner’.

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