Renovate and then accumulate

ENERGY and enthusiasm needed; rich rewards assured.

Cremartin, a three-bedroom detached house in quiet Croaghta Park in Cork, is a renovator/extender’s dream. Close to the city centre, in a quiet cul de sac with a west-facing back garden and off-street parking, it has a lot going for it but also needs a lot.

“It’s ideal for a DIYer,” says estate agent Noelle Morrison, though in truth she is probably pitching it at a semi-professional renovator: it needs more than the cracks papered or plastered over.

Then again, that’s probably why it is pitched at the €420,000 mark.

“It needs a general overhaul, but a well thought-out refurbishment would bring this home to a new level,” says Ms Morrison. It can be extended to the back, to the side into the attached garage, and possibly into the roof.

Location is off the Glasheen Road, a mile or so from the city centre, near UCC and the Bon Secours hospital. Croaghta Park is leafiness personified, with two arms of the mid-1990s estate wrapping around a surviving large house on big grounds.

A number of the neighbouring bungalows have been extended and upgraded in the past five years.

Cremartin’s layout includes a central hall beyond the arched entrance doorway, living room with bay window and fireplace, a family room linked via an arch to a dining room, a small kitchen, utility space and ground floor guest loo.

Overhead are three bedrooms, one with bay window, and a main bathroom.

The attached garage is a bonus, and has extension potential.