City’s hill-side hideaway

EVERY city has its hidden house gems - and one of the best hidden and best kept secrets is Maryville House.

This secluded Georgian villa-style home in the hills above Cork city centre is packed with original architectural detailing, with superb ornamental ceilings and stained and etched glass work.

It is a house of two halves: from the front, it appears single storey, but it is over a full basement, giving twin levels with separate entrances. It is likely a new owner will reinstate the internal staircase and open it back out to a single home of urban period splendour.

It is secreted off Summerhill North, the gently curving hill running up from McCurtain Street to St Luke’s Cross, less than a 10 minute walk from St Patricks Street. But, despite this central proximity, it is so private, the city could be a world away.

Maryville House, with just enough vehicle access, is screened front and back from the outside world: it is set off the road, behind a terrace of five Victorian homes, and entrance to this property is through a discreet gated archway in this period terrace.

To the south, a mature hedge screens out the start of the Lower Glanmire Road and Kent Railway station (a planing application for a major mixed scheme on the rail station site is expected within weeks.) The station and road are far beneath, under an overgrown escarpment which previously gave a second, stepped pedestrian access to this villa home.

Dating to the early 1800s, Maryville is now on a site of about a quarter of an acre, with mature gardens all around, including a striking Monkey Puzzle tree in its front lawn.

Estate agent Brendan Quinlan of Hamilton Osborne King expects it to be bought as a quality family home right in the city. The St Luke’s area currently has a mix of large Georgian and Victorian homes, many being reconverted from rented accommodation to large family homes as the air of faded gentility gets put in reverse. Families already in the area may be tempted to trade up to this unique detached property.

In its current layout, Maryville House has a first floor large drawing room with double doors to a dining room, with matching ornate ceilings and good marble fireplaces as well as tall south-facing windows (all windows have been replaced with Georgian effect PVC double glazing.)

Beyond the double entrance doors with glazed panels and fluted columns, there’s a spectacular entrance hall, with Gothic vaulted ceiling with ornate plasterwork, and the doorcases have carved detailing.

There are first floor bedrooms, one with a WC ensuite, a bathroom with large shower, kitchen and utility.

Decoration at the upper level is classical, with lots of boldly patterned wallpaper and matching drapes, while the lower level has a more stripped-back modern feel.

This lower level, with rear garden access, has a very large kitchen/family dining room with good units in ash and black and white floor tiling, and there’s a large family living room which opens through to a formal dining room as well.

After lots of structural work and opening up of older, smaller rooms, this basement section now has two fine sized bedrooms, both south facing, and the main bedrooms has a shower room ensuite. Price expectation for Maryville House is over €700,000.