Convenience and space command the right price

THE house name, Greenhills, is in hindsight a bit of a pointer.

The owners of this fine suburban semi are upping sticks and moving lock, stock and showdogs to the green hills around Glengarriff in West Cork as a retirement lifestyle change.

Their move, after rearing a family in this so-convenient settled Douglas setting of Hettyfield, will be some younger family’s good fortune if they can rise to the €850,000 guide price, and possibly any bit more of a price premium that this location attracts.

Take one thing as a fact: semis of this size, or especially on sites of this size, will never again feature in such a setting, the land is too valuable.

Site size here is, at a glance, about one sixth of an acre within a half mile of Douglas village, with lots of width, so much space the house could almost be doubled across it and still have room to get around, while the gardens front, back and side, have been lovingly tended and practically planted, right down to the glasshouse bounty about to burst into seasonal splendour.

Apart from the house itself, which was solidly built by Hegartys in 1946, and has stood true since, the property has a detached garage where an extension might head towards, as well as a sheltered rear yard with part-glazed ‘Moderector’ structure with polycarbonate roof, and this gives cover for those going out to a detached utility room and workshed, while also making for an all-weather clothes drying space.

Greenhills is a fine family home, with four bedrooms, plus family bathroom upstairs, and two good reception rooms plus recently fitted kitchen and guest WC downstairs.

The reception rooms are both to the front of the house, with replacement double glazing, and the dining room has a glazed door to the gardens and a seating area. The owners have a sun-trap space here to sit out at, with a small water feature. It all feels very ‘back garden,’ despite the Hettyfield ‘thru’ road outside which connects to the Well Road. It’s not too busy, and anyway, where else would you sit? In the shade?

There’s not much needed to do immediately at Greenhills, but money will be spent in any case. Several of the downstairs rooms have swirly, rustic plasterwork on the walls, for example, it’s a mid-1900s look and decorative feature that has yet to come back into full favour, despite any flirtations with adobe plastering.

Budget for a skim of fresh plaster to even it out, unless your taste coincides with the original builder’s.

Colours, too, are on the drab side, for example the woodwork, and are likely to be lightened and taken to the creamy end of the scale, again all easily remedied intentions.

The essentials are all there, though, such as gas central heating, double glazing, guest loo (though no en suites) and space enough to go on with, and easy extension options to the side and back too.

A quick drive around the Hettyfield block will reveal several houses which have had this ‘go large’ makeover done already, so the pointers are there.