City home could provide southern comfort for Dubs

THERE’S a bit of a surge of relocation house hunters from Dublin on the prowl in Cork right now, and many in particular favour ease of access to the city centre, and a period home in the right setting.

So says estate agent Michael O’Donovan of Sherry FitzGerald in Cork, who is selling the brand new market arrival 9 Sunmount, a mid-19th century St Luke’s Cross offering which is approachable in more ways than one.

First up, its asking price of e695,000, for a big six-bed home won’t break the bank of anyone selling up in Dublin, or of those trading up in Cork who want to live within an easy walk of the city centre, and near to good schools to boot.

It is set just off Military Hill, but blink and you’d miss the entrance to the Sunmount Terrace: clue, in on the left, opposite the Ambassador Hotel and above St Patrick’s Hospital, with clear south-facing city views out over St Patrick’s.

There are two sections to the terrace, and No 9 is the last in with a creche further beyond, but separately accessed. There’s private parking in front of the house, plus a separate garden alongside, while there’s also rear access off Military Hill to the house’s back yard: essentially, all the places you’d want to take the sun at are in front, while the back is very much the service end of the house.

Internally, it is a bit of a peach, with virtually all of the original period features intact and not over-restored, though most of the windows have been replaced along the way, but not with matching sashes.

The two main ground floor reception rooms are inter-linked via sliding stripped pine doors which go back into the dividing wall.

There’s a kitchen/dining room behind, with laundry/utility room, a guest WC is also at ground level, and each of the next two levels has three bedrooms plus a bathroom, with a free-standing cast iron bath in the main one.

In total, there’s around 2,100 sq ft of space, with original fireplaces, old pine floors, architraves, shutters and cornice work.

There’s a warm and homely feel, lent by the art on the walls and the bookcases aplenty, and when the weather turns further, there’s gas heating to warm the bones.