On a third-of-an-acre site in A-list Cork city address

THIS old farmhouse seems an anachronism, surrounded as it is by a 1960s estate in an inner suburb of Cork city.

Above it are Shankiel and Knocknaheeny, with houses stretching all the way to the reservoir: the tower which marks one of the highest points in Cork.

Below are the Lee Fields, the Mardyke and University College Cork, and surrounding it are the fine houses of Shanakiel and Sunday's Well.

Looking a little 'tired' in auctioneering parlance, Grove House is dry and habitable, and sits on a hidden treasure of a third-of-an-acre in one of the A-list addresses of the city.

Set behind the old gates of Mount Prospect House, the last remaining vestige of the Earl of Cork's Mount Prospect estate, the farmhouse replaced the original gate lodge in the mid-1800s, and the outline of that dwelling can still be seen in the boundary wall.

Surrounded by mature hedging and with a second entrance from Strawberry Grove, the property is a prime development site, says Sasha O'Shea, of Timothy Sullivan and Associates, either for a significant replacement dwelling or a high-density apartment or townhouse scheme. And the site is lovely, with old trees standing guard on the southern and western boundary, giving a touch of the country in the city.

Woodside House, just across the road, is a detached property on a large site and is on the market with Conor P Flynn and Associates for €575,000.

Moytura, a large detached house, which is on the hospital side of Shanakiel, is guided at €825,000 through Sheila O'Flynn, of Sherry FitzGerald.

Sasha O'Shea gives a guide of €775,000 for Grove House.