Sweet, pretty cottage

With its Victorian past, Lee View Cottage at 95 Sunday Well, Cork, looks and feels good, writes Rose Martin

WHO knows how old this cottage it? It’s likely to have stood here long before the Victorian expansion of Cork City, so could it have been part of the demense of Cork city gaol? It’s one of a row of cottages facing south over the river which may have housed low-level jailers — and with enough garden in which to feed a family.

Either way, and despite the lack of a back story, Lee View Cottage at 95 Sunday’s Well Road is still around — and still looking good too.

Upgraded and maintained consistently, the house is a rare sale here, in fact, last time round it never even went to open market.

The current owner was passing, saw the house, liked it and as its then owner was gardening to the front, put in a request to buy it there and then. That intervention was timely: the previous owner was transferred in her job, the deal was done and within two months the present owner, now vendor, was in situ.

A simple, honest cottage, there are two ways to look at this property: a walk-in job for a single person or downsizing couple, or a project for ambitious younger buyers. A quick scoot around gives the basic outline: a living room connecting to a kitchen diner on one side, with bathroom behind and two double bedrooms on the other. There’s also a small yard at the rear.

Michael Creedon of DNG Creedon is the selling agent and he’s seeking offers in the region of €270,000 for this sweet, pretty cottage:

“You’re in the heart of it here but it’s still very private — it’s rare to get that,” he says, adding that there has been considerable viewing interest in the past two weeks.

Facing full south at the front, with views over UCC and the Mardyke, the cottage is above, and set well back from, the main road. There are French doors onto the garden from the living room which, like the rest of the house, has a cafe creme colour scheme and a feminine, country house style to the interior.

High ceilings and terrazzo flooring are some of the original features, and there’s an open fire in the main living room with quality wooden flooring.

Simple and easy to manage, there is great scope to add to and improve the cottage, perhaps taking an extra floor in the roof and a glass projection over the rear, north-facing yard in a re arrangement of the kitchen and bathroom space. The cottage has an easterly window, which could be expanded on in any makeover.

VERDICT: Lee View Cottage is a rare sale in an area where properties have more vaulted values — hence the huge interest so far.