Trading up: Highlands, Glounthaune €475,000

The half acre site’s the bonus at Thornfield, a detached, squarish, dormer home of 1,500 sq ft, by the edge of Glounthaune village by Ballynaroon, and the Highlands.

Size: 140sq m (1,500sq ft) 

Bathrooms: 3 

Bedrooms: 4 

BER: F

Listed for sale with Lawrence McSweeney of Savills, who guides at €475,000, it’s dated, but well worth an upgrade given the popularity and accessibility of the Highlands.

As the name might suggest, there are indeed elevated views from many of the Highland homes, many of which date from the 1960s and 1970s, and from Thornfield you can see the tides and turns of Cork harbour off in the distance, while there’s a commuter rail station at the bottom of the hill, handy for city school- and college-goers, and for workers too.

Overall condition is quite good, but original too in some respects to its build era and the BER’s poor-enough an an F, so energy efficiency upgrades at least will be on the cards.

Rooms include a living room, south-facing with a patio door leading to the back lawn, the staircase is actually in this L-shaped reception room, with a small sitting room/study off, and there’s a dining room, fitted wood kitchen, and guest WC.

Upstairs are four bedrooms, three of them doubles, a bathroom and a separate WC.

VERDICT: Rooms are small so think of knocking through or extending.