Upgraded house reaches the crest of modernity

THE CREST is well-named. You climb up a hill at Upper Cloghroe, near Tower in Co Cork and, as the road levels, amid a string of bungalows, you find a property which with views over the valley.

The ‘For Sale’ sign gives the location, as you can’t really see the property behind its high hedges. Drive in and you get the impression of neat, but rather unremarkable bungalow - until you get inside the door and then you see that The Crest has been given The Swan treatment.

Dragged kicking and screaming from the 1970s to the Noughties, this four-bed, brick-built bungalow has had collagen implants, (blown insulation to bring up the U value), a brow lift with new windows, internal refiguring and some very hip additions, not least the Berloni kitchen and wall mounted radiator in the hallway.

What you get now is a modern, clean-lined property of 1,800 square feet, that feels new but is surrounded by a private and mature boundary. The house faces south and is flooded with light and it has solid oak flooring running through the main living rooms with pine doors to match.

The main living/dining kitchen area is a bright L-shaped space running front to back with French doors to the rear garden. Access to a smaller living room with insert fireplace is from here and, on the kitchen side, there’s a door to the utility.

A feature of the hallway is the inset glass blocks in the main wall which creates an immediate impact and it reflects light from the back of the house onto the hallway. Glass doors and floor to ceiling windows all add to the high level of ambient light in this house and, as it’s being shown unfurnished, the effect is magnified.

Bathrooms, both the main and master, have good quality fittings and are styled simply with white tiling. The heating system, run on oil, is new.

As an indication of what you can do with a simple, but thorough makeover, this is a great example, and there has been lots of viewings at the house already.

Valerie Parkes of DNG Harris guides the property at €420,000 and she already has an offer of €400,000.