{"id":657316,"date":"2026-10-17T06:36:18","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T06:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/657316\/"},"modified":"2026-10-17T06:36:18","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T06:36:18","slug":"e1m-minimalist-home-in-passage-west-maximises-on-superb-views","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/657316\/","title":{"rendered":"\u20ac1m minimalist home in Passage West maximises on superb views"},"content":{"rendered":"

When building a new family home the main ask was a house that was hardwearing and maximised the views.<\/p>\n

In 2007 the owner was expecting her fourth son \u2014 she now has five boys \u2014 so she was particularly keen to have a house that was conducive to children and teens playing and hanging out.<\/p>\n

Aghadoe at Upper Ardmore in Passage West is in a perfect position for sweeping harbour views so it made total sense to capitalise on those.<\/p>\n

The result is a 3,600sq ft six-bed detached home at the uppermost section of a sloping site at the top of Church Hill.<\/p>\n

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Owner, Deirdre O\u2019Brien had an eye to the future with experience from the past: \u201cI wanted clean, minimalist lines and a hardwearing home but I didn\u2019t want the house to feel bland or bare. We had moved quite a lot in the previous years so I knew what we needed. And 18 years on the house isn\u2019t showing any signs of wear.\u201d<\/p>\n

She takes pride in the fact that the house has been a \u201creal home\u201d: \u201cWe\u2019ve had 17-18 boys up here on the balcony. They\u2019ve gone flying down the slope on fertiliser bags in the winter and had slides and swimming pools in the summer. We\u2019ve had Halloween parties, birthday parties, 21sts here. It has 100% withstood the madness of boys. There\u2019s been bikes and skateboards through here. It\u2019s a real home for living. I didn\u2019t want people to have to feel they have to take off their shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The large open-plan kitchen\/dining and living room is the heart of the home and also one of Deirdre\u2019s favourite spots.<\/p>\n

It features a bespoke, Scavolini kitchen complete with a large chef\u2019s island, an integrated Liebherr wine cooler, and Nexus SE double oven range cooker.<\/p>\n

The kitchen is also fully equipped with a suite of integrated appliances: Bosch combination oven, Neff built-in coffee maker, two Fisher & Paykel dishwashers, and an American-style fridge freezer.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI picked quite a neutral decor as I thought we might end up moving again quite soon but we actually ended up staying more than 18 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

At the water side of the space is the open and bright living room with panoramic views, glass on three sides and access to the balcony traversing two sides of the home. From the living room and balcony you have impressive views over the rooftops of houses below as well as a whole sweep of the harbour.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can see over the water to Cobh and all the boys did sailing courses so I was able to see them on Ribs out in the water and they were able to wave up at me. And on a foggy day the clouds are actually below the level of the house which makes the place look absolutely stunning.\u201d<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s one double bedroom on this level and the other five bedrooms are on the lower level. One of these bedrooms is currently in use as a gym but could be a home office or revert to a bedroom if new owners want. The main bedroom has a huge glass \u2018wall\u2019 (with electric blinds) looking out over the garden and water and has its own bathroom and walk-in wardrobe.<\/p>\n

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As well as the stairs indoors, there\u2019s an external staircase leading from the entry level to the patio. And there are electric gates at the main entrance. There is also a modern garden room that is wired and could be used as a home office.<\/p>\n

The decor and aspect of this home come in for strong praise too from agent Kevin Barry of Barry Auctioneers: \u201cIt\u2019s a fabulous house, it looks so modern and really there\u2019s nothing you\u2019d change in it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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There have already been repeat viewings, he adds, with interest coming from people living in the area keen to trade up as well as people renting specifically to be in a strong position to move when the right house comes along.<\/p>\n

With some sons already moved out and another getting ready to spread his wings, it\u2019s time for another project for Deirdre \u2014 though her next renovation will also have coastal views as a must \u2014 and this B-rated house is on the market for \u20ac1m.<\/p>\n

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Deirdre herself notes: \u201cIt\u2019s a very handy 15 minutes into the city centre, 15 minutes to the airport, 15 minutes to the beach. The boys were able to walk to the bottom of the hill and get the bus with some going to schools locally and some into the city. Location wise it worked out much better even than we thought.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are houses all along the Old Church Rd as you approach from water-level Passage West and next door to this home there\u2019s one more house with a matching exterior \u2014 both were designed by Yelland Architects – and beyond that there\u2019s agricultural land.<\/p>\n

\n VERDICT: A refreshingly unpretentious home. High-end finishes have stood the test of time, proving that style and practicality can comfortably coexist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When building a new family home the main ask was a house that was hardwearing and maximised the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":657317,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,25976,308,93,61,60],"class_list":["post-657316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-cork-property","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657316","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=657316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/657317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=657316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=657316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=657316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}