New house developments have come a-plenty to the area around Clarkes Hill and Garryduff in Cork’s Rochestown: there may have been as 2,000 homes built in the last few decades ‘round Mount Oval, since the time Hill House Cottage itself was built on its own plot.

There’s a good mix of house types up at the lofty-sounding Kensington address, atop Clarkes Hill in Cork’s Rochestown, built back in the 1970s for the traders-up and the traders-out of that now-distant decade.

Weighing in at an impressive 4,000 sq ft, this is among the best Rochestown has to offer, writes Tommy Barker.

Tommy Barker visits a city outlier and townland that was recently a rural idyll, but now is an accessible and sought-after suburban stretch.

The address title, Kensington, was aspirational back in the day, when homes were built in the Cork suburb of Rochestown, for the upwardly mobile in Upper and Lower Kensington.

The guide for this substantial four bed detached home indicates a resurgent market, writes Tommy Barker.

Set in a small, well-maintained scheme, this ideal family home has lots to offer, says Tommy Barker.

Described as a walk-in job is the corner-set home at 1 The Ferns, within the Foxwood development in Cork’s Rochestown/Garryduff suburbs - and, a new national school is a walk-in job across the road. 

Size: 2,717/2,879 sq ft

Sq m: 102 (1,100 sq ft)