Living the quiet life by the River Lee at no 3

ELECTRONIC access gates to small-niche residential communities and large one-off houses are a sign of our security-conscious times, if not even snobbery-laden days. But, not too many houses have a railway level crossing as part of their approach drive.

No 3 Myrtlehill Terrace has that rail link-and-level crossing, and the Cork-Cobh train passes close by the doors of this Leeside setting, a mile east of the city centre, a short hop down from Kent Railway station.

There are several mixed terraces of houses here along Myrtlehill, ranging from the acceptable-sized to the large, with some very big detached houses down closer to the Tivoli skew bridge.

It is a fascinating little community, with a high red sandstone cliff to the rear of the properties, limiting gardening options to the abseiling fraternity, while to the front most have small gardens, and a fantastic south-facing aspect looking over the River Lee to the Marina, rowing clubs and the GAA’s Páirc Uí Chaoimh. Shipping joins trains and cars as a constant reminder of a world on the move, yet Myrtlehill is enough of a remove from all of that, thanks to its level crossing gates.

No 3 is a new market arrival with Mark Gosling of James G Coughlan auctioneers, who sensibly prices it at €350,000.

That price reflects the fact it needs work. “Full modernisation,” is what he says, and that means looking at a budget, possibly of €100,000 or so, to do it all up to a good high spec.

The good news though is that many of the original features have been kept, such as the fireplaces, a bath, cornicing, stained glass, etc.

Its simple accommodation includes two reception rooms, a very small kitchen at 12’ by less than 6’, and two bedrooms on each of the two overhead floors, with a bathroom on floor one.

A few years ago, this would have been bought up by a small builder or serial do-er upper, now the new market reality means it is more likely to be picked up by an end-user, perhaps an architect or other, keen on city living.

There’s the prospect of Cork’s new docklands campus unfolding in front of it, with two proposed new bridges to link both river banks, north and south of the Lee.