Above average family home

Tommy Barker says No 20 Heatherfield has the ideal location.

RECKONED to be one of the best of the bunch, and one of the larger house types, No 20 Heatherfield is a family home that ticks many buyers’ boxes.

First, the size, at 2,480 sq ft weighs in well above the average, and with five double bedrooms and two en suites, there’s lots of space for a young or growing family.

The location is out in Waterfall, more or less the brow of a gentle hill by an established village community a few miles west of Cork city and Bishopstown, and five minutes in the car has you back to Dunnes Stores at the Bandon Road Roundabout.

Houses here, built by Fleming Construction, who have other plans for even large new homes, have proven popular with professionals (lots of German cars and MPVs), and especially the medical fraternity given the ease with which you can reach the CUH and new maternity hospital in Wilton.

No 20 Heatherfield has a big site, about one third of an acre, with extra spacious back garden, and has been on the market with Savills HOK for some months, with a guide of €1.1 million.

They are giving it a pre-Christmas sales push (hurry, hurry and get the tree up for Christmas) and they say the finish is top notch.

The house designs at Waterfall won’t ever win awards for creativity and flair (though the sale brochure talks of an architecturally designed front facade), but their simplicity masks the generally thoughtful internal layout, and their size is evident from the moment you get to the large entrance hall and winding stairs to the landing, with spread of bedrooms off it.

The internal layout includes a stepped-down area from the kitchen to the family room, and this step feature is mirrored outside in the split-level patio and seating area to the back.

Rooms include a 19’ by 14’ living room with limestone fireplace, there’s a study across the hall, and behind is the 31’ by 22’ T-shaped kitchen/dining room with solid oak units, island and granite worktops and semi-circular splash back above the Range Master cooker.

Ceiling heights are 9’ for extra airiness, there’s a central vacuum system and a good standard of light fittings, glazing is double and wood-grain effect PVC, while the house’s construction is steel-frame, with high insulation standards.