Three-storey Victorian home with fine period features in Blackrock

TWO-bed penthouses with roof gardens in the grandly-titled Eden scheme in Cork’s Blackrock are priced at €500,000, and four-bed townhouses of 1,750 sq ft are €577,500; so, what price an original three-storey Victorian home across the way?

Well, 1 Ardnalee, a three-storey, four-bed home had an even €500,000 price guide, and has just gone over it in pre-Christmas offers.

Unlike the 550-unit contemporary-styled, and high density Eden homes coming off the building production line on the former Ursuline Convent grounds, the semi-detached/end of terrace 1 Ardnalee has proven its appeal over time. But, a century or so on it now needs the careful ministering hand of new owners to maximise its potential for decades of semi-urban living ahead.

It came up for sale in the pre-Budget, ‘will he, won’t he?’ dithering period on stamp duty, and now that no changes are imminent bidding is in train.

Selling agent is Valerie Parkes of Hamilton Osborne King, who says the sale gives the chance to get a fine end of terrace period property, in a superb setting by the church in Blackrock village, with the pier and Marina just around the corner, and a private back garden.

No 1 weights in at an estimated 1,750 sq ft, with its fourth bedroom at the second floor level, overlooking the back garden.

Its retained period features include original tiled and wood floors, high ceilings, original fireplaces in two reception rooms as well as in two of the first floor bedrooms, and a handsomely-proportioned bay window in the front living room and in the overhead main bedroom.

Apart from two reception rooms which some viewers will seek to interlink, there’s a dining room to the back which leads on to a kitchen (with garden access), a small utility and guest WC, while the main bathroom is over the rear kitchen.

The location is the key, the garden is a real bonus, and demand for the area with swift access back to the city centre is continuing to grow. Nearby, another estate agent, Timothy Sullivan, has the small terraced two-bed house 3 Lota View (with similar garden aspect) under offer at €326,000, and the large, refurbished three-bed house Dundanion with a fine rear sunroom and on very private grounds under active offer at €670,000, with an asking price revised to €690,000.