Trading Up
Sq m: 176 (1,890 sq ft)
Bedrooms: 4
Bathrooms: 2
Broadband: Yes
It’s a complete surprise — there seems to be twice as much house here as you’d expect at 78 Lower Clarkes Road in Cork city’s Ballyphehane.
Seeking €215,000 and under offer in the €190ks, selling agent John Barry of Keane Mahony Smith says “don’t judge the book by the cover;” what looks like a slim novella from the front turns out to be a bit of a blockbuster inside.
Used as a convenient, close-to-UCC base for a number of years by its overseas owner, No 78 has been extended and altered in just about every way: there are four bedrooms over the top two floors plus a huge ground floor extension that faces over the decked patio to an 18’ by 14’ games room.
Piece de resistance is the 17’ by 16’ rear living room, an extension with 15’ ceilings at the apex, along with exposed joists and a fully-glazed back gable wall. This room is bright, with Veluxes, and warm with a fireplace, and links into the fresh L-shaped kitchen/dining room. There’s also a 19’ by 12’ front sitting room, long hall, utility room and a shower room. The first floor has three bedrooms and main bathroom, and there’s a fourth attic level bedroom with Veluxes.
Outside, there’s off-street parking for two cars, and shared side access to the back yard.
VERDICT: All ready to rock and roll.
Sq m: 86 (900 sq ft)
Bedrooms: 3
BER rating: —
Broadband: Yes
Perfect for anyone wanting to move into a mature, and super-convenient Tralee town location is 5 Castlecountess, a refurbished semi-d by the Brandon Hotel and the Town Park.
With nice long back gardens, off-street parking, recent re-wiring and upgraded insulation values, plus a new roof and decor, No 5’s a good option for those looking for an easy life with every service on the doorstep — literally, and the Kerry Group‘s HQ is also nearby.
Selling agents Sherry FitzGerald Stephenson Crean guide it €225,000, and say the address is well-regarded, and that when Castlecountess re-sales come along, they generally need work done. Here, it’s already been finished out — but, for those that might want more space, the size of the back garden means extending will still leave plenty of garden to enjoy. And, for anyone wanting a ground floor en suite bedroom, the attached 12’ by 17’ garage is primed for conversion.
As it stands, there’s around 900 sq ft of space in this double-fronted semi, with a living room with open fireplace, a similar-sized kitchen/dining room, and overhead all three bedrooms all have fireplaces. The bathroom is upstairs.
VERDICT: The neighbouring semi has already been significantly extended, showing just how accommodating these handily-set homes can be.
Sq m: 140 (1,500 sq ft)
Bedrooms: 3
Bathrooms: 2
Broadband: Yes
The traditional West Cork farmhouse feel has been kept with Pine Cottage, but comfort has been added too, and now the place on three quarters of an acre near Ballydehob is for sale, priced at €260,000.
On the market with Maeve McCarthy of Charles P McCarthy in Skibbereen, Pine Cottage gets the mix right of keeping faith with the old, while making for an easy day-to-day life too, and there’s a surprising 1,500 sq ft to hand here, thanks to sympathetic add-ons, and front and back porchs. Though it’s only a mile from Ballydehob and the coast, the views from this west-facing home are rural and rolling.
Rooms (several with attractive wood floors) include a 21’ by 14’ living room with wood-burning stove, a dining room with fireplace, country-style kitchen with beamed ceiling, cream painted units, Stanley range and utility, ground floor bedroom with adjacent shower room, and overhead are two more bedrooms.
The well-kept grounds include a green house, a garage, and a workshop.
VERDICT: If you’re looking for that elusive West Cork hideaway home with charm, Pine Cottage pretty much fits the bill.
Sq m: 196 (2,100 sq ft)
Bedrooms: 5
Bathrooms: 2
Broadband: Yes
If you were to add the existing, integrated garage to the floor area of Valdon, you’ve immediately got 2,300 sq ft of family home in a settled southside Cork suburb — what’s not to like at a €265,000 asking price?
And, given the large semi-detached house on a corner site in Skehard Road/Beaumont needs prettying up, that price might even be negotiable.
Valdon’s a new market listing with Andrew O’Donoghue of Casey and Kingston auctioneers who says serious spending has already been done to secure the house, such as new drains and underpinning work, but now it needs full modernisation.
It will repay that investment, and lots of the work could be decorative with DIY, as there’s already good-sized rooms to play around with. There’s a double, front-to-back reception room with east-west aspects (west to the front), while across the back of the house, thanks to a single story extension, the quite sizeable kitchen leads to a dining space, with white tiled floor throughout, with two windows overlooking the back garden. The garden access is through a side door, or via patio doors in the main living area. Overhead are five bedrooms, plus tiled family bathroom with bath, shower and bidet.
VERDICT: Buying solid but basic, this is one to turn around over time.
Sq m: 130 (1,400 sq ft)
Bedrooms: 4
BER rating: —
Broadband: Yes
Within an easy walk of Cork city centre, Douglas village, and various schools, parks and sporting amenities, the 1960s-built, solid family home Garrycloyne is good to go, and ready to extend to the side.
The four-bedroomed detached house is at the top of the Bellair estate, between the main Douglas road and the Ballinlough road, making for a very well-serviced older suburb a mile from City Hall.
Estate agent Dennis Guerin of Frank V Murphy & Co has recently listed the 1,400 sq ft house, and guides the executor sale at €365,000 for keen vendors.
Room sizes are all generous, and although the back garden is more of a courtyard, bounded by an old limestone wall, there’s a very decent stretch of side garden, worth extending into at ground or two floors levels.
It’s very clean and tidy, but a bit dated, so new owners can put their own modernising stamp on it. Garrycloyne has two reception rooms, large hall with guest WC, and main bathroom and four double bedrooms. A lot of neighbouring houses have gone up into the attic, as the roofs and gables here allow for easy and adaptable conversions.
VERDICT: A good detached home with scope, within a short walk of most amenities and on several bus routes too.
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