Recent under-bidders likely to set pace for Glanmire hot spot

ALL you need is one good sale and suddenly an area can get intensely hot in property terms.

So it is in the hilly reaches of Glanmire in Cork, where a recent sale by private treaty went electric, leaving a number of under-bidders hanging and looking out for consolation properties.

The architect-designed, bungalow, Kilcool, built in the 1950s, comes on the market hot on the heels of its next-door neighbour, Wilderness, which started with a €550,000-plus price guide, and ended up making a whole lot more closer to €900,000, according to unconfirmed sources.

Kilcool shouldn't go quite so crazy, given its smaller site. (Wilderness had an exceptional 1.3 acres.) On a half-acre, Kilcool's grounds are mature, but without the same huge input of labour and planting as seen in Wilderness.

In fact, the grounds were so pristine at Wilderness that the house (charming and all as it is) was almost peripheral to them. Some viewers saw it as little more than an exceptional site.

Selling agents for Kilcool are Hamilton Osborne King, with joint agent Dominic Daly, and the house carries a €400,000-plus price guide.

It was designed by architect Jim Buchan, who has a number of other similar Cork dormers to his credit. The house has two first floor bedrooms (one with en-suite) and has a third bedroom at the lower level.

Reception rooms include a multi-windowed 26ft by 14ft sitting room with limestone fireplace. Double doors open to a dining room which in turn leads on to a sun room which has garden access.

There's also a kitchen, utility room. The lower level bedroom has a dressing room beyond an arch, and a bathroom alongside with bidet, shower over the bath and marble-tiled walls.

South facing, it has high ceilings, gas heating, an attached garage and attractive mature gardens. And, if under-bidders from next door come a-knocking, it is probably going to sail past its €400,000-plus guide.