Hidden gem close to city centre

HOME for lunch? A house close enough to Cork city centre to allow you to nip back for a quick sanger out of the fridge and water from the tap might help those watching recession-time budgets.

Named after the former orchard grounds of a period house on which they were built, the homes at Clontymon Lawn are a bit of a well-kept secret.

Suburban in the extreme, they are just a short walk to Cork city centre, at the start of the Boreenmanna Road and only a couple of hundred yards off the South City Link Road to boot.

Several new homes and apartments have recently come along on the under-rated Boreenmanna Road: by contrast, Clontymon was an early adapter, built a couple of decades ago, with old stone walls retained, and ranged around a pleasant green.

A new market arrival here is No 22 Clontymon Lawn, an already extended (at ground level) three-bed semi-d, described as a hidden gem by Jarlath Boyd of Savills, who seeks €370,000. It is a five minute bike ride to the city centre, or a ten to 15 minute walk. A walkable commute gives back hours and quality to your day and week, says the agent, comparing it to the alternative of daily trips in and out of commuter towns and suburbs.

Helping anchor houses like No 22 to older days are the high stone walls and mature greenery, and its back gardens even has an old pear tree from earlier times and climes, while the recent upgrades in the house itself means it’s fairly bang up to date.

It has been extended for a back kitchen dining space, with high pitched wood-clad ceiling, and off this is one of the two other reception rooms, via sliding door.

Overhead are three bedrooms, and a freshly re-tiled bathroom.