Saturday, November 21, 2009 Previous editions
Saturday, August 01, 2009
GOOD design speaks for itself, and in Fox Wood it speaks in hushed tones: its initial modesty gives way to a growing appreciation.
A deceptively simple and architect-designed dormer home in Cork harbour’s chi-chi Monkstown, it has discretion as its key. But, even on a swift visit, its owners’ eye for good design pays dividends, inside and out.
A brand new market arrival, this c 2,000 sq ft four-bed home in the thick of Monkstown’s wonderful woodland demesne clearly has an exceptional setting, gratis of nature. But that’s just for starters, almost an incidental backdrop.
On one of the most private of the 30 or so sites in this mixed woodland setting, Fox Wood aka No 16 and its half acre has easy access via steps and a path to Monkstown’s village, shops, bus service and Sand Quay, home to year-round dinghy sailors. That’s all just down the way, while up behind at the wood’s boundary in Monkstown golf club, where several golf holes scythe through the century-old planting. That’s all just three miles from the Rochestown Inn, and seven or eight miles from Cork city centre. Magic.
Given the woodland setting amid old, old oaks, an expectation is that it will be darkened inside, but not so — thanks to design sensibility.
The main living areas, clustered at one end, have a series of matching French doors, opening the inside to the outside patios and allowing light and views to flood through.
There’s no wasted space or wasteful corridors, a largely open-plan but adaptable layout keeps that essential light bounding through, making for a calm and contemporary sequence of spaces.
The owners collect and display modern graphics, photography and paintings, so walls are all kept pure white, increasing the sense of space, while some doors have sandblasted glass for light filtering, yet retaining privacy.
Materials used are simple and unflashy, but quality stands out, from Rationel glazing to oak and Honduran pine floor and steps, and the most understated kitchen by craft-worker Hans Leptien, with birch-ply veneers and sleek Formica laminates.
Selling agent is Stephen Clarke of O’Donoghue Clarke, who seeks offers around €1.1 million for the quite special demesne home: he’s closing another recent contemporary home sale in the harbour area around the €1m level.
Buyers for Fox Wood could come from the hinterland, or be relocators to Cork from Dublin or abroad who will be smitten by the setting, and (quietly) pleased with the product.
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