Back to the future with a little piece of old amid all the exciting new

BUILT in 1929, the year of the Wall Street Crash, there’s no sign of economic downturn at Tig Padraig, a detached family home in a key location on Cork’s main Douglas Road.

The home is just 150 metres from the South Ring Road off-ramp as it enters East Village — those who know the area will see it as a truly prime place to live and disport.

Developers and shopping centre owners the Love family are formulating vastly ambitious plans for Douglas: they’re aiming to link their two shopping centres and they’ve already acquired much of the land and properties between them; the idea revolves around proposed new relief roads to ease congestion in the area and, if they can be sorted, there’ll soon be a 21st century plan for Douglas which will mean residents hardly have to leave it — for anything.

However, the plan’s almost irrelevant for whoever moves into Tig Padraig: they can walk to the village and all of its existing quality services; they’re also on the inside hub of the ring road and village, meaning access to the city via older roads ain’t too bad either.

The current owners of Tig Padraig, Margaret and Jim Aune (he’s of Norwegian/Ukrainian extraction, via Canada) have been in blissful occupation of the home for almost 20 years — they’re only selling because their children have grown up and moved out — and are now looking to trade down in the same area.

Estate agent Sean McCarthy of ERA Downey McCarthy Murphy is charged with selling the circa 2,000sq ft detached home — with four bedrooms and a very spacious ground floor — and has an added extra up his sleeve for what’s likely to be a wide mix of potential buyers: the rear of the residence features a large, almost double-size, detached garage which is sufficiently separate from the house to make room for a mews dwelling, subject to planning; others might see immediate scope for a home office or therapist’s rooms, also subject to planners’ and neighbours’ consent.

Tig Padraig’s asking price is €900,000 but it’ll bid well beyond this when buyers see it — be prepared to pay a bit more and probably to invest further in the house, which is already of fine quality and has a sound appearance with lots of original features — a look out the side windows shows plenty of Douglas Road neighbours busily extending to the rear (one nearby house has an indoor swimming pool, in situ since the 1970s).

Tig Padraig has nice touches: like the Tudoresque wood beams on its gables and the Art Nouveau stained glass panels in the hall door and stair window, while the main hall has tall timber panelling to keep up the tone.

Spacewise, the home has an entrance and rear hall, a large 18x12ft sitting room to the front (complete with a bay window), a study by the stairs and a 12x12ft dining room with an archway to an oak fitted kitchen; to the very back is an older style cedar-clad 24x13ft extension which is used as another large and bright reception room overlooking the rear patios, which are crying out for a bit of double door and deck tweaking.

The home’s ground floor has a guest lavatory, utility room and cloakroom while overhead are a main bathroom, separate lavatory and four good-sized bedrooms, some with good storage and one with immediate scope to break into an adjoining storage room for an ensuite bathroom.

The house has PVC double-glazed windows and heating has been upgraded to gas, so the new owners can do as little or as much as they want when the enter Tig Padraig’s pleasant stained glass doors.