Tommy Barker takes a leisurely wander around a smart one-off family home with a unique intergenerational link

THERE’S a clock ticking in the background of this bungalow home called Vermar.

Knocking down and replacing isn’t anything at all new in Ireland’s house market, and especially so in rising and buoyant markets (current tail-end 2018 economic jitters notwithstanding,) all the more so again in strong, ‘bullet-proof’ locations.

Kya deLongchamps considers a chic waterside Rochestown apartment with village amenities at its back

Well-built Well Road home has the space and finish to give it wide appeal, writes Tommy Barker

Tommy Barker admires a reasonably-priced home in the scheme just across the Douglas River from Rochestown.

The duplex No 30 is for resale, with €245,00 sought by estate agent Jeremy Murphy, and that’s for one of the largest, a three-bed of c 1,200 sq ft.

Although Curraheen needs work, it’s a Well Road prospect well worth considering.

Tommy Barker steps into a secluded one-off home with a sunny disposition and super quality build and finish.

There’s practically a new home feel to the interior of 3 Douglas Hall Mews, despite the fact it’s coming up on 30 years of age: it’s because its owners did it all up from top to toe, when they moved in just five years ago.

Former home of artist Gladys Leach has great gardens and access to a virtually private park, finds Tommy Barker.

Size: Sq m 184 (2,000 sq ft)

Sq m: 157 (1,700 sq ft)

We scan a selection of trading up homes around the country.

We scan a selection of trading up homes from around the country.

What with the bird song, and the tolling of a nearby church bell as the solitary background sounds, you could well be in the midst of the countryside at this dormer bungalow called Cluthar.

THE detached Douglas, Cork home Caragh on the salubrious Well Road may now be inched closer to a tempting sale, thanks to a further price drop designed to get a deal struck and new owners in the door.

IT’S all about sensible pricing — and location clearly helps get a sale over the line, too.

Tommy Barker says Maryborough Woods property has had a brush with genius and altered bedroom tallies, too.

‘WATER FRONTAGE’ and ‘Douglas’ are words you don’t often seen together in the same sentence – unless accompanied by tags like ‘worth millions.’

UNEXPECTED views come with 19 Park Hill — the end of this suburban semi-d’s garden looks out over Douglas estuary, Mahon Golf Club, the south ring road and Rochestown. And, sensibly the owners, who are moving on with a growing family, built a feature pergola at the gardens’ end from which to enjoy water views.

GREENBANKS, a detached house on Cork’s Well Road, went up for sale in late 2005, just as the housing boom hit its peak — but despite spiralling prices, it took the market by surprise.

IN 2003, as the property market began to accelerate, a house and site on the Well Road, Douglas, Cork, went on the market at offers in excess of €500,000.

BACK on the market after its spring launch this year, Burlington, on the Douglas estuary in Cork, now carries a guide price of €850,000 through Malcolm Tyrrell of Cohalan Downing.

ESTATE agent Tim Sullivan will have his hands full on viewings at Brickfields.

THERE are not many quality homes for €500,000 within a few minutes walk of Douglas village, in Cork city - so this apartment, by the local tennis club, should achieve its €525,000 guide price.

CHARLEMONT HEIGHTS is well-named, as the hillside houses have a lofty demeanour and a view over the Douglas estuary and the lights of Mahon Point.

Tommy Barker says Cork houses have broken the million mark by the dozen in 2005.

NO 1 The Village Green is in good company. The selling agents of this 1990s-built home last week sold the nearby Greenbanks, the former family home of the late musician Rory Gallagher, for close on €2.9 million at private auction.

THE family home of the late guitar legend Rory Gallagher sold at a private auction yesterday, beating the winter blues.

THE address is called the Close, and for a normally quiet cul de sac it is a spot set to be flooded with strange cars cruising by for the rest of the month.

GREENBANKS is a contender for Cork house sale of the year. It isn’t just the link with local rock legend, the late Rory Gallagher, whose mother lived here for several decades: the house and its grounds are in a class of their own.

A RICH autumn harvest of homes has hit the sales market as September closes. The clutch of multi-million euro Cork houses gives diverse city, suburban and county living options.

ALTERATIONS to a house, as any auctioneer will tell you, can have a double-edged effect. Modernising a period property gives it an attraction only so long as that fashion is in vogue.

BRICKFIELDS mightn’t sound like the most imaginative of names for a residential development, particularly when brick isn’t even used in the design.