Fabulously furnished

COWS grazed in fields next to Spindlewood when it was built 36 years ago; now this section of the Rochestown Road has Caseys leather furniture from one end to another.

And, "the home of Caseys furniture" is itself up for sale, as second generation retailers Jim and Joan Casey sell the large house where they reared a family of six children.

Appropriately-titled Spindlewood (the wood is used for fine furniture wood turning) was built as one of six houses, to three different designs brought over from England, in 1969.

The houses were built on land that would originally have been part of the Maryborough House estate, which explains the roots of the giant chestnut tree in this property's front garden.

Founded in 1921, Caseys of Cork (and just opened in Limerick too) has become an institution for a certain class the sort of Cork people who ask if a house is on the 'left' or 'right' hand side of the Rochestown Road?

Needless to say, Sherry FitzGerald's sales brochure discretely places Spindlewood on the right hand side, and the guide price quoted by selling agent Sheila O'Flynn is in excess of €950,000.

As soon as she gets buyers inside the door and beyond the fairly small hall, they'll clearly see the value to be had here: as the house was extended thrice, the floor area has swelled to a surprising 2,850 sq ft with the vast bulk of space on the ground floor and great for family use and for parties.

Take a breath: there's a 24' by 17' family room added on across the middle section of the house behind, with a powerful solid-fuel stove for heating, a south-facing back garden with decking and a patio linking back towards a conservatory. There's a lounge linked via two steps to a dining room, and this flow to the conservatory giving a 60' run from front to back of the house through these three linked rooms. In addition, there's a family dining room off the galley kitchen with its painted units and marble worktops, study, closet room by the back garden and guest WC.

Upstairs, the house was reduced from five bedrooms to four, giving a large dressing/morning room and ensuite with the master bedroom as a real parents' sanctuary, there's a family bathroom and three other bedrooms, one with access to a floored capacious attic storage space. There's a big open flat roofed space above the family room which could easily be made into a sun-trap balcony.

The gardens of around a third of an acre are very private, mature, thoughtfully planted and professionally tended, there's electronic access at the front gate, and an alarm has been fitted, while heating is by oil.

The sale includes appliances, carpets, curtains, light fittings and there's a chance the furniture may also be bought. And, it came from Casey's HOUSE, not the shop, you know.