Snooker could be the draw in this spacious suburban gem

By Tommy Barker

For sale as part of the package at this 800,000-plus home is an upstairs, away-from-it all, snooker room with professionally tested table.

Built in a fine annex, with separate back stairs access, the 23ft by 17ft room has a table with an impressive sporting pedigree - it has hosted players like Dennis Taylor, Jimmy White, Alex Higgins and others in the 1980s, when snooker ruled the TV waves and RTE had a table set up for a championship tournament sponsored by Beamish and Crawford.

The owner, now the vendor of Glandore House, got his hands on the table and a regular snooker sparring partner at this house was Tony Halpin, former brewery MD, amongst others.

The table got serious play and was in use two or three nights a week and all day Saturdays, says the vendor, selling up with a family reared to trade down to a large apartment.

Whether or not the new owner of this fine family residence will share the same enthusiasm remains to be seen and whether or not there is a spouse’s dispensation for such simple pleasures will also be a matter for private negotiation.

Truth be told, there is space aplenty here for any new owners’ needs, primarily thanks to the sheer size of the gardens and grounds - a full acre, in one of Cork city’s priciest suburbs, Blackrock.

Selling agents are CB Hamilton Osborne King, who guide it at €800,000, but who should be able to price a bit more out of it given its understated attractions and, crassly put, future site development value as well.

The house is only glimpsed from the narrow entrance drive (between the Maple Leaf and Leaping Salmon bars) which broadens out to a graveled parking area.

Behind, the gardens get wider again and a laneway called Glandore Avenue along one site opens up the option of a couple of one-off house sites (subject to planning) without imposing too much on the main house’s privacy.

On the other hand, there is plenty of space for a tennis court for those who just want to appreciate having so much ground around a suburban home.

Glandore House itself, about 100 years old, is big without being overly-grand or overwhelming.

It has four bedrooms, with one of these tucked away like an erie at attic level but with full staircase access and has three reception rooms, two with some period-type trimmings and good fireplaces and a fine, large lean-to sun room with a south-westerly aspect.

Floor to ceiling height is about 10ft and the decor is pleasantly neutral, probably in need of a modernising blast by its new owners, but nothing in need of urgent attention either.

The acre site is the big asset, a few miles out from Cork city but well attended to by suburban services, and the Marina, old railway line and Castle Road are ready-made pleasurable walking routes on the doorstep.