Historic Cork harbour home linked to famous Atlantic SS Sirius crossing has oceans of   options

For sale for the first time in almost a century is the impressive Ardmore House in Passage West, on four acres with stone courtyard buildings and barn: it dates to the 1770s, originally owned by the Roberts family, with Richard Roberts the first man ever to cross the Atlantic by steamship, captaining the SS Sirius, in 1838.

After generations in Roberts family ownership, the three-storey 4,000 sq ft Ardmore House was bought in 1927 by the Aherne family who farmed it for decades.

They previously sold some of the land in the early 2000s to developers O’Brien & O’Flynn for the substantial Harbour Heights residential development a few fields way from the period house and farm buildings which now also come to market.

Selling agent again is Maurice Cohalan of Cohalan Downing, who sold the development land for the Ahernes back in the 2000s for a multi-million euro sum.

This time, the guide price for the 250 year old Ardmore House is €1.5m, and that’s for a distinctive five-bay three-storey home with canted bay windows, enclose limestone porch or portico, two fine reception rooms, up to six bedrooms and an array of fine two-storey outbuildings, two of them six-bay, inside an enclosed courtyard via a tall limestone arch.

The land going with house includes a steel farm barn, and there’s an option to acquire more than the initial four acres the historic home is offered on, says Mr Cohalan.

The land is good pasture, and is unzoned, with numerous specimen trees in the paddocks and there’s a new, wide approach avenue to the house from the Cork Road from Rochestown into Passage West (just before an Aldi).

The Ardmore name is linked to a townland and to late 20th century high density and private housing schemes on the perimeter of Passage West, while the former Aherne family lands on the town side now hold many hundred homes in the OBOF Harbour Heights scheme. Family members will avail of a different access point off a higher road to their retained lands for cattle and other farm enterprises, it’s understood.

Predicting both commercial/hospitality (think Crosshaven House?) and private buyer interest Cohalan Downing’s Jackie Cohalan says Ardmore House is “steeped in history. It deserves considerate new owners who will undertake the upgrading and refurbishment necessary to blend contemporary comforts with historical charm.”

DETAILS: Cohalan Downing 021-4277717