Large gardens strong attraction at prized Mount Oval property

THE house across the road made over €1.4 million in the spring, now no 23 Mount Oval in Cork’s Rochestown is an autumn arrival, with a e1.3 million price guide.

Though both were built back in the mid-1970s and with superficial differences externally, they are houses with very different feels, and different garden aspects.

Owned by an architect, and kept fully up to speed with a smashing contemporary interior, No 4 had started with a €950,000 guide with HOK, and quickly rose in strong bidding to make around the €1.4 mark. While its back garden sloped upwards, and had a southerly aspect, No 23 in Mount Oval (or Mount Ovel, spellings vary for this area) which is now for sale has far larger gardens, sloping downhill away from the rear of the house, very private, well planted, and giving lots of hidden seating areas as well as a greenhouse and a few sheds.

It is probable that many who come to view no 23 will already have been through no 4, and comparisons will inevitably be made: the judgement is likely that on balance they are roughly equals, each house has its strengths and differences, while sharing the same leafy setting, colonial-feel architecture (OK, white pillars) and Rochestown address.

Mark Kelly of Lisney is selling no 23 for its family vendors, and reckons it has about 2,400 sq ft of space, and five bedrooms.

While it has good living space below, as well as a sun room jutting out enough to get morning and evening sun, the best room is probably the master bedroom suite, with loads of storage, a private Virginia creeper-fringed balcony overlooking the back gardens, and an en suite with a Jacuzzi bath.

The main family bathroom also has the Jacuzzi stamp, but this time the brand appears on a sophisticated multi-jet shower/steamroom installation. Elsewhere, the rest of the four bedrooms have good storage, and one bedroom has a sink. There’s a pull-down stair access ladder.

At ground level, solid wood flooring predominates, to the left of the hall is a double-sized, front to back living room with beech floor, and an arch leads across the back to the kitchen/dining/sunroom. The kitchen has French oak units, and granite worktops, lots of integrated appliances, and while it is all fine and dandy, it is likely to be replaced with something with a more modern sheen. Off the kitchen is a utility room, and a secondary hall with door to the front of the house where there’s sloped parking for two cars.

The ground level also has a guest WC, a study and a large family room well isolated from the rest of the living space, with timber beamed ceiling. Features of no 23 include gas heating and double glazing, alarm, wood floors and, very best of all, the gardens and patios, generously landscaped and ideal for eating out when weather permits.