Brand new, once-off house only a mile from the city

WHAT is billed as “the closest new house to Cork city centre” has just hit the market and will be ready to move into by Christmas.

The location is the key to its value. After all, the house has only about 2,000 sq ft of space, though the level of finish will be high if the house next door is anything to go by.

Pitched at trading-up families this four-bed dormer bungalow called Kenmare is being built at Ashton Park, off the Blackrock Road near Ashton school, and is one of two houses to occupy the former tennis court of an older adjoining house.

A mile from Cork City Hall the sties were bought by Ken Hurley, who has recently moved into the larger of the two houses for which planning was granted at the time of purchase, and he is overseeing the completion and sale of Kenmare.

It is on the market with Ann O’Mahony of Sherry FitzGerald, who expects it to fetch around €750,000: earlier offers coming close to €700,000 were rejected, she says.

“It must be the closest new one-off home available to Cork city centre; anything nearer is in a development, or is an apartment,” she notes with confidence. Buying interest will be strong because of the location, and the lower stamp duty rate applying to new builds.

Kenmare is on a mature screened site of about a tenth of an acre with parking and south-facing garden which can be accessed from a largely open-plan kitchen/dining room. There’s also a ground floor sitting room, bedroom, bathroom with shower, utility and three overhead double-sized bedrooms, one with en-suite, plus main bathroom.