House of the week

Anyone watching the new Channel 4 series, The House the 50s Built? Good, isn’t it? Well this house at Shanakiel, Cork, would do as a stand in for historical accuracy.

Rivercrest was created exactly in 1950 by Cork architects, Chillingworth and Levie, for a well-known, local family. The firm’s collection of drawings is now in the Archive Institute and the plans for this house are available through estate agent, Malcolm Tyrrell of Cohalan Downing who is open to offers in the region of the guide of €580,000 for this detached property.

Like a lot of good homes, Rivercrest hasn’t changed much over the decades — if at all. This house is an exemplar for its era — down to the shape, style, steel windows and, in particular, its kitchen/ diner. A little faded now, but in its day, this red formica number must have been the epitome of 1950s chic. If the values bandied about in one Channel 4 episode are anything to go by, it was an expensive kitchen in its day.