Inviting feel to Ardskeagh Villas

Tommy Barker says this Gardiner’s Hill property has a quality touch.

HALF and half options are now on offer, cheek to jowl at Cork’s Ardskeagh Villas on lofty Gardiner’s Hill.

No. 1 of this large and quite imposing Victorian duo of semis above St Luke’s Cross came up for sale in 2006, went sale agreed, but the deal went west, and it is still available, guiding €750,000 (with Savills Hamilton Osborne King.)

Now joining it on the sales front is no. 2 Ardskeagh Villas, broadly a mirror image and also a superb quality home, though the internal look here is done to a more contemporary/classical palette.

It is cautiously guided at €720,000 by estate agent Michael O’Donovan of Sherry FitzGerald, and this is possibly only a starting point as there’s little, if anything, to find fault with within or without, once the lack of off-street parking is acknowledged.

Dating from 1896, it carries its period trimmings gracefully and its accommodation is ranged over three floors, plus first floor return, giving 1,850 sq ft of living space.

Any interventions have been in keeping with the era, adding to comforts, while the decor is smart throughout, with lighting a feature.

The fact that one half of the couple selling has a family background in the building business, and local roots must be a reassurance to buyers.

The exterior is immediately attractive, with Virginia creeper about to burst into leaf and with a lightly-planted, graveled front garden space inside the original iron boundary rail, up to the original hardwood door with ornate new beveled glazing.

The hall has hardwood flooring, and cornice work which continues through the two interlinked reception rooms off on the right, while the rear kitchen can be accessed off the back of the hall or the back room. Each of the two main living rooms has its original fireplace (one with gas insert) and 10’ high ceilings, and windows are high-quality replacement sash units with double glazing.

The kitchen has an gas-fired Aga stove, modern units with granite and wood tops, the original black and red floor tiles, and there’s a sunny study or play area behind leading to a rear and side patio, with raised decking space beyond, all landscaped and with LED lighting, easy to keep and enjoy.

Across the front of the house at first floor level, with three sash windows and a sanded and scrubbed pine floor, is the main bedroom or optional drawing room, also with a feature fireplace, in painted slate.

There’s a bedroom behind with smaller fireplace, three further dormer bedrooms at attic level, and the main bathroom is off the first floor return, with Jacuzzi bath, separate shower and adjoining WC.

No 2 Ardskeagh Villas has that wishful, warm and inviting feel and unerring quality touches that will endear it to house hunters looking for a place to retreat to, within a short walk of Cork’s city centre, and has the solid, nothing-hidden look that should have surveying engineers nodding in approval at the way they built ‘em back then, and just how well they age when properly maintained.