Perfect Leeside offering

THE Lee fields are the Elysian fields to Cork city dwellers — acres of bucolic heaven on the edge of the city.

Runners, toddlers, walkers, strollers and lovers pour onto the flat plains of the Lee in early spring, when it’s dry enough to sport and play

Right at the end of the Lee Road at Leemount Cross, the chance to option a piece of this heritage is on offer though Sheila O’Flynn of Sherry FitzGerald.

She’s selling a large dormer bungalow here, called Beechgrove, which not only provides executive-style living on the Lee, but also comes with an additional 40 acres of land on both sides of the river, below the Anglers Rest public house.

This is rich, alluvial soil and perfect for market gardening, but is strictly zoned under the County Development Plan.

A more picturesque spot would be hand to find, as the land runs down to the river and has Carrigrohane Castle as a backdrop.

The house and lands are being sold separately and the guide price given for Beechgrove is in the region of €500,000.

However, the option is there for a gentleman’s lifestyle with a good house, lands and even horses.

A well-designed, mansard house, it comes with plenty of living space and five bedrooms, but with an integrated double garage ripe for conversion it could have even more.

Ground floor rooms include an interconnecting lounge and living room on one side, a study off the main hallway and a kitchen/dining room to the rear.

The house also has a perfect, south-facing aspect and the conversion of the garage would give even more westerly light to the property. Unusually for a dormer of this style, there are no ground floor bedrooms, (which is a handy division of space), and all five rooms are ranged around the upstairs landing. The master bedroom comes ensuite and along with the main bathroom, there’s a guest WC on the ground floor.

This house is part of a large holding that also includes a three-bedroomed bungalow close by. ‘Castleview’ is on offer at €290,000 and would be ideal for a family looking to move from a built-up area to the wide open spaces of the Lee valley.

Planning for new properties won’t be forthcoming here and this house offers an opportunity to ‘buy into’ the strictly controlled A3 zone. Ms O’Flynn expects keen demand for all three elements of this sale.