Mature property has a lot to offer

YOU often get more bang for your buck buying into older estates, especially when new developments are steam-rolling along nearby, and a case in point is 19 Upper Kensington in Cork city’s Clarke’s Hill.

The four-bedroom Rochestown house is for sale with Sarah Moloney of DNG Harris in nearby Douglas, who guides it at €495,000 — not bad at all for a brick-faced 1,800 sq ft home, which was built in the 1970s but has gone through a fairly thorough upgrade in the past few years.

The family owners are selling because commuting back and forth to London has taken its toll. They say the area is very quiet and settled, with a number of original families still in situ from the development’s early days.

As often happens in the life of an housing estate, a moment of change has come along, with four houses now up for sale, so some renewal is on the cards in Upper Kensington’s life cycle.

Number 19 is in a cul de sac, near a green area/children’s play space, and has its own private front and back gardens, as well as permission in place to extend the house by converting the attached garage and by building on again on top of it (there’s already access to the garage roof from the upstairs).

Rooms include hall, with guest WC off, a 28’ by 12’ living room with junkers wood floor, fireplace and patio doors to rear garden, a dining room, also with wood floor and patio access, an arch opening to the kitchen which has solid oak units and new appliances, as well as new tiling — and the garage currently functions as a part utility and storage room.

All four first floor bedrooms are doubles, most have built-in cupboards and have been recently re-carpeted, while the master bedroom has an en suite shower room.

The recent upgrades include rewiring and new lighting, a new gas boiler, bathroom and kitchen tiling and other various expenditures.