At this time of year, most thoughts are beginning to turn to Christmas and spending time with family and friends. If you could envision a home to do that in, chances are that it would look something like Bramble Lodge.
This magnificent 5 bed detached house is located in Frenchfurze, near Carrigaline in Co Cork and offers a classic Tudor style palette in woodlands near the waters of Cork harbour.
Called Bramble Lodge after the ancient forested around it, this magnificent property was a labour of love for its owners, John and Ann Loughnan who wanted to recreate the charm and feel of a Tudor revival home they’d previously lived in in West Sussex in the UK for a number of years.
Built in 1997, Bramble Lodge was ahead of its time in the materials used during its construction and still boasts a B3 energy rating.
The house itself extends to 386.17sqm or 4,200sq ft and sits perfectly on mature gardens of 1.4 acres.
From the moment you enter, you could just imagine having family events here, such as Christmas dinner.
The quality and workmanship inside and out is second to none. During its construction, elements of this home came from far and wide with imports from France for quartz flooring and handmade clay roof tiles with their French bonnets, Sweden for interior doors and wrought iron monger, handmade Yorkshire bricks for fireplaces and meandering paths, Italy for bathroom ware while closer to home the salvaged and reclaimed wide plank wood floors came from Thompson's Bakery in Cork.
The property has a true Tudor style to it from the solid pine windows complete with K glass and lattice lead, also imported from Sweden, while the handmade clay roof tiles are French.
The rooms within are extensive in size with many offering dual functions while ceiling heights vary with 10 ft to 12ft the norm.
The accommodation of this home is extensive and offered over two levels. On the ground floor is an entrance/reception hall, open plan kitchen/dining/family room, sunken lounge, formal dining room or playroom, sun room, living room, utility, guest WC and a family bathroom.
The first floor has five double bedrooms, two of which are en-suite, making the choice of which to use as the main room difficult. Another family bathroom completes the upstairs accommodation.
Whitewashed walls internally are the norm throughout this home and give dramatic effect and impact to all of the rooms.
Bramble Lodge is the seventh home in Brookwood - a development of 12 detached bespoke homes within an extensive woodland setting, sitting above Drake’s Pool on the road to Crosshaven and minutes from Carrigaline. It nestles nicely against the farmland of Aghamarta as its backdrop giving each of these individual homes ultimate privacy in an area that feels rural once you are within its grounds, yet in a location minutes to conveniences and a short trip to the city.
The home sits overlooking the hugely successful amenity walk, buggy and cycle path skirting the shoreline of the Owenabue estuary underneath. The homes here offer a tremendous range of shapes and styles, although are difficult to even catch a glimpse of such is the privacy they enjoy as you travel the winding woodland spine road which gives them access.
Designed to preserve the woodlands back in early 1990s, these homes have a very unique position within the Cork residential property market.
Bramble Lodge is beautiful and once you drive through the electric privacy gates you instantly know you are somewhere special. The property is Tudor in style and appearance and true to its look the external is finished with whitewashed walls sitting on low redbrick with a punched out redbrick course band dividing and wood lap gable.
Casement windows and doors with inset lattice led work join with redbrick chimney stacks and turret complete with weather vane to showcase this home at its best.
The maturity in the 1.4 acres of gardens surrounding the house is paying dividends now. The strategic placing of seedlings all those years ago are now all grown up and give a riot of colour throughout the garden and throughout the year.
Redbrick laid pathways meander through the external spaces in a calming way. Internally the house is just as interesting. The use of exposed beams throughout the house are just too many to count. They give an interest and function to each room and at times used to dictate the change of function within the room.
The cathedral ceiling and whispering gallery in the reception hall sets the scene of all to come within this home. Every element of the internal finishes were handpicked and every detail thought through to make sure it blended well and stood the test of time.
Independent of the house, the property has the addition of a standalone garage, barn in style, of approx. 170sq ft with an overhead floor for storage and car port alongside.
The property also has a detached purpose built garden shed and glasshouse extending to just over 300 sq ft which could, with ease, change its use and function.
The grounds surround Bramble Lodge extend to 1.4 acres and have been well laid out. Its boundaries are made up of mature trees, which provide an oasis of peace and tranquillity within.
The property is arrived at via double electric gates opening to a sweeping driveway eclosed with sleepers and sitting beneath a canopy of 14 poplar trees lining either side. The driveway finishes offering lots of parking.
The gardens are beautiful and offer wide open lawns ideal for kicking balls, bouncing on trampolines or practicing pitching. The lawns are enclosed with mature planted beds where Rhododendron, hydrangeas, honeysuckle and wild roses give bursts of colours from white to pink, yellow and red.
Japanese Maple and red robins give a fantastic contract against the whitewashed walls of the house. Low walls are capped with red tiles and the meandering path through the gardens are laid in red brick.
Directly adjacent to the house to the rear and accessed from the open plan kitchen/dining/family room is a large deck with a wraparound landscaped space ideal for sitting out in. Tucked away off this is a cosy corner complete with awning fitted, giving plenty of shelter regardless of the weather rain or shine.
A pond with cascading waterfall sits to the side of this rear space and makes for pleasing sounds throughout the day. The outside lighting plan comes into its own in the evening and illuminated the entire grounds. Outside taps are strategically placed around the grounds.
A house is more than just for Christmas but this would be an ideal present that you could enjoy year-round.
Find out more about Bramble Lodge on MyHome at www.myhome.ie/4944219 or contact selling agent Patricia Stokes of Patricia Stokes Auctioneers & Valuers on 086 248 2737.
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