Brushing up from the builder’s blueprint

JUDGING what a house will be like when looking at it on the plans is challenge enough. So, imagine the nerves when deciding to radically alter the builders’ blueprint from the outset.

That’s the risk Mary Sheehan took when she relocated from an old period Co Wicklow home to a brand new Cork house - and just look how it has paid off.

With her family reared, Mary was keen to buy, and for the long-term, into a good residential suburb with services to hand. She liked the location and features of the houses in Maryborough Woods, a large new house development in Douglas, which, when complete, will have its own range of shops and amenities a half a mile from the booming suburban village.