Ingenious use of space on a corner site

SUBURBAN gardens can throw up some rich crop pickings — and the house Kirribilli is one case in point.

Called after a district of Sydney in Australia where the occupants had once lived, this two-year old home was built on a corner garden site of a family home on Melbourn Road (not Melbourne, as in the Australian city spelling) in Bishopstown in Cork.

Behind the move, the build and the decision to move on again was a professional in the building industry, a quantity surveyor, who put his expertise to work in delivering this large home on a compact but key-location site.

By stretching the house up into a marginally higher roof than the neighbouring two-storey homes, he managed to fit in 2,000 sq ft of living space, which includes four bedrooms, den, large lounge, a 20' by 11' kitchen/dining and a sun-room to the rear, as well as the requisite utility and guest WC. And, there's even a small office squeezed into the tail end corner of the low-maintenance back garden triangle.

Kirribilli hits the market with a €595,000 price guide with Ann O'Mahony and Sheila O'Flynn of Sherry FitzGerald, who are confident of reaching this upper echelon figure because of the detached status, quality of build and location in the heart of Bishopstown, near the Cork University Hospital, shops and schools.

What's most notable about the package is the quality of finish and fit-out, at the upper end of the specification scale: so a buyer gets maple floors and a solid maple kitchen, oak paneled doors, granite worktops, limestone fireplace, expensive floor tiling, corner jacuzzi bath, spot lighting, electrically operated Veluxes in the sun room's sloping roof and front and back gardens laid with paviours.