En route to Limeworth

THE EU and the taxpayer has footed an €85 million front drive to what could be your new front door.

The Ballincollig by-pass is due for completion later this year, ending a decade of traffic snarls in Cork's western suburbs and opening up the satellite town just beyond the city for its new phase of 21st Century development.

Population is set to soar from a current level of 18,000, and cumulative worth of private and public investment for the area is close to €1 billion, with the former Barracks site development set to transform the garrison town's fortunes and bring on property values as well as commuters wake up to the improved access.

Built within a stone's throw of an access point and link road to the Ballincollig by-pass, and just a mile and a half off the Model Farm Road, is Limeworth, an almost completed niche and low-density residential development of about 30 homes which anticipated the impact and convenience of the new road network.

Most of the houses have subtle design differences and paint shades, all are large and most buyers have extended into attic space for their trading up needs.

One serviced site is left to sell here, priced at €220,000, but for those looking for a ready to move into home, Norma Healy and Sheila O'Flynn of Sherry FitzGerald will sell you no 5 Limeworth. It is a 3,200 sq ft home with living space on three levels some 600 sq ft of it at attic level where's there's a huge recreation room. Guide price is around €620,000 for the four-bed house, which just started viewing this week.

An advantage for a buyer is a much reduced rate of stamp duty, because this is a new build.

Limeworth (named after lime trees at the boundary) has been developed on the site of an old fruit farm at Carrignanarra, owned by the O'Driscoll family, and former teacher Denis O'Driscoll was involved both in selling sites and developing a number of finished homes.

No 5, painted a bright yellow and centrally set on a compact-enough landscaped site, is one of his built examples, and although speculatively built it is done to unexpected high standard: the kitchen for example has enough storage to bulk-feed a wandering troop displaced from the old barracks a mile away. No 5 has a south-facing back garden and well-positioned sun room linked via double doors and an open hatch to the kitchen, there are linked reception rooms front to back to the left of the hall with red oak floors, and a family room across the hallway.

Three of the four first floor bedrooms have their own en suite bathrooms, the master bedroom has a walk-in wardrobe, there's a main bathroom and double sized hot-press, and the top floor is currently an open large space, but could make two bedrooms, bedroom and study, stores, home office etc.

Features include gas condenser boiler and pressurised showers throughout, fully tiled bathrooms, fitted maple kitchen with granite worktops and a Belling range cooker.