Homes at Cork's Horsehead House coming of age, and to market, from €495k
![Homes at Cork's Horsehead House coming of age, and to market, from €495k Homes at Cork's Horsehead House coming of age, and to market, from €495k](/cms_media/module_img/7743/3871771_7_articlesmall_HorseHead-Houses-10_1_.jpg)
The Crescent's eight terraced homes in a curved arc are beside the 19th century Horsehead House and 12 €1m+ modern builds in Cork Harbour's Passage West. Agent Trevor O'Sullivan of Lisney Sotheby's International Realty guides No 1 from €525,000
Horsehead, Passage West, Cork Harbour |
|
---|---|
€475,000/€525,000+ |
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Size |
177 sq m (1,890 sq ft) |
Bedrooms |
4 |
Bathrooms |
3 |
BER |
A3/B2 |
A NEW HOMES development by Cork harbour’s Horsehead House is finally coming of age, aged 21 years, having started on site in 2002, but only finally coming for completion, and today for sale, as 2023 comes to an end.
![Curves in the right places: The Crescent, Horsehead at the Cork side of Passage West has the harbour within view: some of the exterior colours are going to be toned down a bit! Curves in the right places: The Crescent, Horsehead at the Cork side of Passage West has the harbour within view: some of the exterior colours are going to be toned down a bit!](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7743/3871804_6_articleinline_HorseHead-Houses-12_1_.jpg)
Having successfully turned the corner is The Crescent, a scheme of eight, three-storey upmarket houses built in an arc shape, in the former grounds of the early 19th century Tudor revival Horsehead House overlooking the waters of Cork’s inner harbour and Marino Point. the ‘original’ itself went up for sale in late spring guiding €1.95m via agent Trevor O’Sullivan of Lisney SIR.
![First floor living room with solid oak parquet floors First floor living room with solid oak parquet floors](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7743/3871807_6_articleinline_HorseHead-Houses-27_1_.jpg)
The pristinely restoredc7,000 sq ft Horsehead House on two retained acres (designed by Sir Thomas and Kearns Deane for the Lane family of Frankfield House) has been in advanced sale negotiations with a top bidder for several months now, whilst the ‘newer’ detached homes built in its six acres of grounds from the 2000s have been steady sellers, at up to and over €1m of late, with the most recent at €1.525m.
![](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7743/3871810_6_articleinline_998594.jpg)
One of the very largest yellow/mellow brick Regency style homes (all designed by UK based architects Melville Dunbar, and quite similar to Abington in Malahide in north Dublin) made c €2m back in the early 2000s, and that was when The Crescent also started to come out of the ground.
![First floor landing First floor landing](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7743/3871813_6_articleinline_HorseHead-Houses-28_1_.jpg)
However, the priority at the time for Horsehead House’s owner, Meathman and niche developer Tom McEntaggart, was the big and undoubtedly impressive retro-looking one-offs (there’s a variety of styles and sizes). Thus, The Crescent was late to start construction, and was not surprisingly hit by the crash that came to pass in 2007/2008 and whose after-shocks long lingered after.
![No 1, the dearest of the six going to the open market, has gable end windows for even better water views No 1, the dearest of the six going to the open market, has gable end windows for even better water views](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7743/3871816_6_articleinline_HorseHead-Houses-6_1_.jpg)
The upper floors of the eight here on the left of entry in The Crescent look out variously over the original Horsehead House and its many chimneys, and towards the more recent large detacheds, with water views, many mature trees and, to the back and south, toward farmland above Passage West and the back or higher Rochestown road.
![A 'virtually staged' interior of No 1 as it might look soon A 'virtually staged' interior of No 1 as it might look soon](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7743/3871819_6_articleinline_HorseHead-Houses-27_VirtualStaging.jpg)
Add in the maturity and privacy of The Crescent’s grounds already well mabedded in (laurel hedges are in for years now, and bin stores are well-placed behind individual sliding doors in the generous parking area) and there’ll be quite the sense of a well-settled scheme in the next few months: a few of The Crescent’s exteriors are to get changes of paint colours too, likely going for a more muted overall impression.
![Wide hall with white marble top above the radiator, warm-to-the-touch Wide hall with white marble top above the radiator, warm-to-the-touch](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7743/3871822_6_articleinline_HorseHead-Houses-39_1_.jpg)
Features internally include a bit of extra height in the ceilings, wide halls/entrance lobbies with tiled floors and, a particularly nice touch, white marble shelves on top of hall radiators which warm up beautifully to the touch when heating’s on in these A3-rated homes, plus mahogany trim on stairs handrails, tulip wood on the treads, and stainless steel caps on the newel posts on the upper floors.
![Bathrooms fully finished and tiled Bathrooms fully finished and tiled](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7743/3871825_6_articleinline_HorseHead-Houses-30_1_.jpg)
The next level up has a large first floor living room with bay window, an en suite master bedroom to the back and three top floor bedrooms with a shower room to serve them; the houses don’t have a bath in current layouts and, unusually, nor do they have utility rooms at ground level.
![Another 'virtually furnished' CGI of No 1's interior: the room is ready to fit out and to add a kitchen, with a €12,000 PC sum available Another 'virtually furnished' CGI of No 1's interior: the room is ready to fit out and to add a kitchen, with a €12,000 PC sum available](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7743/3871828_6_articleinline_HorseHead-Houses-34_VirtualStaging_1_.jpg)
Foundations and slabs with insulation under base floors are in place behind each for orangeries or sunrooms to be easily added on, past rear double doors, and a few on the terrace (Nos 3 and 4) have steel RSJ frames up for just such a possibility, indicating this potential, with back gardens big enough to accommodate such add-ons if desired.
![](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7743/3871831_6_articleinline_HorseHead-Houses-21_1_.jpg)
As No 8 is gone, No 1 is likely to be the next prize, bookending the curved terrace run and coming as it does with a triple aspect kitchen/living/dining and extra-large site with separate parking; a stunning first floor oak parquet herringbone-floored living room and landing with rooms’ shape inlaid in mahogany strips.
![A detail of one of the other, higher end detacheds built at Horsehead A detail of one of the other, higher end detacheds built at Horsehead](https://www.irishexaminer.com/cms_media/module_img/7743/3871834_6_articleinline_1012224.jpg)