Wooden it be good to live in this spacious suburban home

Lios na Laoi has all the essential ingredients to recommend it, writes Tommy Barker

A wood and timber merchant brought his merchandise and joinery skills to bear on his family home back in the 1930s — and now, 80 years later, the result, called Lios na Laoi, is still rich in timbers.

And, the wood-panelled reception hall is a bit of a scene setter, just for starters.

Set on the Glasheen Road in Cork by Hartlands Avenue, near UCC, the Lough and hospitals, the detached four/five-bed home was bought back in the 1990s by a family for ease of access to schools and colleges for growing children. Now, with the education years accounted for, it’s selling up and downsizing time, job done.

As a result, Lios na Laoi is new to market this summer, carrying a €465,000 price guide via Sheila O’Flynn and Johnny O’Flynn of Sherry FitzGerald, and that’s for a house of some character, in a prime, inner suburban setting with a good, southerly-aspected back garden.

Work was done down the years by the occupants, so now it comes with an attic conversion room, for storage purposes only, (though there’s a drum kit here safely out of sight, if not earshot) and a lofted kitchen extension with four Velux windows to the back, with patio access. That extension swells the size to just over 1,800 sq ft.

The house has a formal front reception room with bay window and dark timber fire surround and oak floor to the right of its entry hall.

That hall has high wood panelling, an oak floor and the slightly heavy timber theme continues up the stairs as well: a few well-placed mirrors, or strategic lighting, would give an instant visual lift to this core area.

To the back, there’s a second reception room overlooking the back garden, crying out for French doors for ease of inside/outside movement. The best room of all is the now-extended kitchen/dining and family space, complete with cheery red Rayburn range cooker. It’s been given a bit of a lift thanks to the high, pine-panelled ceilings over the kitchen extension with its sliding patio doors. Off the kitchen is a utility/laundry room and a study/fifth bedroom with garden access. Overhead are four bedrooms, one with en suite and a decent family bathroom, with further space overhead at attic level for storage, reached via a steep short flight of steps and lit from a south-facing dormer window.

Overall condition is good, with the best rooms at ground level, and new occupants will look to freshen up the decor, perhaps try some lighter colours and generally give it a bit of an update.

But the bones are all here and essentials are good. The back garden has the right aspect, is mature, sheltered and private with some fruit trees, maples and beeches. Even the front is quite private, due to a high screening wall and trees, with enough parking for several cars. Cork’s city centre is about a 15 to 20 minute walk away, and the Lough, UCC and Bon Secours are five minutes stroll away.

VERDICT: Competent DIY and gardening skills will bring the already fine Lios na Laoi up a couple of notches. The location’s a seller too.