IF there is a such a thing as the ‘average semi (which is faintly insulting as a descriptive term), then this house is the exception that proves the rule.

THIS is a little beauty — plain and simple.

IT’S not until you drive up that you get the full impact of Abbotswood, in Rochestown, Co Cork. The fact they climb up a hill adds to their impressive standing: these are big houses, even in the smaller types.

A BRAND new, three-bed duplex is on offer at €390,000 through Property Choice. No 68, The Avenue, is part of the Garrane Darra scheme of apartments and duplexes at the Link Road at Wilton.

EXTENDED to the rear and with up to six bedrooms, 50 Rossbrook on Cork’s Model Farm Road is a banker for trader-uppers in the western suburbs of Cork city.

Leave the mower behind for this East Cork home, marked by a minimalist outside — and the works within, writes Tommy Barker.

SMOOTH as the water outside the door, this two-bed apartment in Rochestown is pitched at the high end of the market €450,000.

RIVERBANK turns back the clock. Granted, this small set of houses has the South Link whizzing close by and Douglas bustling just yards away, but here you can just sit and watch the river flow.

TWO properties, on the western side of Cork city might suit commuters looking for a rural environment within a 20-minute drive of the city.

TAKE a secluded, woodland site on the south Cork coast, add 10 big houses and, hey presto, you’ve got Brookwood, on the Crosshaven Road.

Rose Martin is impressed by Bramble Lodge, a massive property with plenty of stylish rooms.

Tommy Barker says Jamesbrook Hall is steeped in family history.

SURPRISINGLY enough, there’s over 2,000 square feet on the ground floor of this bungalow at Watergrasshill and another 1,000 in the converted attic.

JUST inching past its initial price guide of €350,000 is Owenabue House, on Carrigaline’s Lower Kilmoney Road.

A RARE opportunity, the brochure says, and indeed, it’s probably not far wrong when you have a site of just a shave under an acre with full planning permission for a 2,500 sq ft dwelling in the salubrious, Moneygourney/Maryborough Hill area.

THIS four-bedroom semi at 133 West Avenue, Parkgate, Cork, is in superb conditions, according to Con Dennehy of Property Choice.

IF a year makes a difference, check out the changes in a decade.

SET in solid, straightforward selling land is 45, Rochestown Rise on the periphery of Cork city.

Tommy Barker is impressed with the design of a Crosshaven home.

AN orchard of old, lichened apple trees on the main Rochestown road is new to the market this week with Pierce Cuthbert of Property Choice.

TIME was when a dower house meant a place built for a single woman to provide a roof over her head, away from a stately pile set to follow a male inheritance line.

A €60 million road now runs out to this Knockanmore, Ovens, home - it is just a couple of hundred yards from the end of the Ballincollig bypass.

IT is downhill all the way to the beach, but in the best possible way, at this Roberts Cove home.

THE site size of two acres will widen the net of possible buyers at Windsor, near Carrigaline’s Shannonpark, south of Cork city.

THE footballs say it all — lying forlornly on the grass on a quiet school morning, they hint at the life that goes on in Augusta Drive on Saturdays, Sundays and long, summer days.

A LAST-MINUTE, end-of-year surprise arrival on the property market is Ardeevin - a manageable period home on over an acre, with sea and country views, begging for a 2005 makeover.

YOU can remain aloof aloft at Ard Alainn. Not only is the Victorian terrace above Cork city at St Luke’s Cross, it is also set above the old suburban road that makes it a downhill whizz to the centre of town.

WHEN Avondale was built 18 years ago, the location was distinctly country in feel, at Garryduff in the rural end of Cork’s Rochestown.

THIS former, red-brick gate lodge has been transformed into an attractive house.

BUILT only four years, the large family home 18 Abbotswood Downs in Cork is being sold by its US business executive owner, and leaves little for any new occupants to do other than pay up and move in.

SITES don’t come with much more rarity value than this one, an acre-plus at the water’s edge on Castle Road, near Cork’s harbour landmark Blackrock Castle.

OLD Douglas in Cork has a strong draw — the maturity of the houses, the proximity to good schools and the plethora of shops and other outlets makes it first choice for trader-uppers - first-time buyers are usually priced out here.

DETACHED houses for family living in Cork’s Douglas/Grange suburb are on the go, with two different estate agents.

ONE of architect Roddy Hogan’s distinctive house designs, The Spires in Cobh has an elegant collection of lemon-yellow houses high above the town.

BIG but not bold, these houses at Weaver’s Point in Crosshaven, Co Cork, come with 2,600 square feet apiece but are tucked away off a small side road almost at the point.

By Rose Martin

WHERE’S the house?