Trading Up
Although it needs doing up now as it’s definitely dated on the decor side and more, there should be keen eyes cast over 21 Brookfield Park — a four-bed detached on a nice walled site, a stone’s throw from the Lough amenity area on Cork’s southside near UCC.
Carrying a €295,000 asking price via Conor Smith of Kevin O’Sullivan Estates, it’s a decent home in a very quiet corner setting in the popular park, where there are way more semis than detached houses.
It’s pretty sound, and has had its windows replaced and has gas central heating and an alarm, but any new occupants will want to put a more contemporary look on the place, perhaps add a guest WC or en suite.
Then, the attached garage holds scope for conversion, or building above, so essentially expect to spend a further €50,000 to maximise its many virtues.
The proximity to UCC should put it in the mind of families with college-going offspring.
VERDICT: Even though you’ll have to spend further on No 15, the Brookfield Park setting is very strong, and the garden’s nicely walled in.
The same agents have an upgraded three-bed semi-d nearby at 3 Hillside Drive, Glasheen, which shows tweaks possible in houses of this vintage.
There’s three upper level bedrooms, and the option of a fourth one too at ground level, at the very decent family home Vermont, on Cork city’s Ballyhooley Road.
The extended mid 1900s semi has a south facing back garden, with fruiting trees, lawns, a steel shed, a glasshouse and two block-built shed, and has a €250,000 AMV with Robert O’Keeffe of Irish and European.
It’s got lots of scope for a family, and apart from the optional bedroom at the side extension, there’s a utility with WC, and home office. Regular day use rooms are good, with a front sitting room, a rear 21’ by 11’ lounge/dining room. The kitchen is 20’ long, but only 8’ wide.
Overhead, the bathroom has been freshened up and tiled as a shower room, with attic access.
Vermont has off-street parking, front, side and back gardens, and while all the essentials are here — a good location on a bus route, access to services, good sports facilities and walks by the Glen, as well as proximity to the city — it needs some extra work and modernising.
VERDICT: A good, solid example of Cork city’s housing staple, the semi-d.
It’s a simple enough bungalow, albeit with four bedrooms, but it’s the site of 0.6 of an acre, and the panorama it offers, that’s the key at Woodville.
Set at Ballyglan, a mile or less from the beach at Waterford’s Woodstown, the view from its cottage-style garden is over land rather than water, but is commanding nonetheless, says selling agent John Rohan of Sherry FitzGerald. He describes the property as “quaint” — but it’s more 1960s than 1860s.
It’s got the look of a system-built home of that period, with double aspect to many of the rooms, so it’s bright.
Although it has got cottage-style gardens, it’s a bit on the dated side inside and needs some modernisation now, concedes Mr Rohan. However it has wood-grain effect pvc windows, and storage heating. The house’s setting, on a sloping site with its well-kept lawns and re-made beds, allows for extension, subject to planning approval.
About eight miles from Waterford city and two from Dunmore East, it would make a great holiday or second home as the beaches are both pretty and unspoiled, plus there’s a choice of golf courses nearby, including Faithlegg and Waterford Castle.
VERDICT: Woodstown escaped the rash of holiday home building during the boom, so you’re buying into an area of limited stock — and great appeal.
A tranquil setting, and gardens of one-third of an acre, are some of the attributes of the detached bungalow Fernhill, by Cork’s Sallybrook, Glanmire.
Estate agent Michael O’Donovan of Sherry FitzGerald guides the neat home, with front sun room overlooking the gardens, at €260,000. It’s divided with living, dining and cooking space on the left of the entry hall, plus the 13’ by 12’ sun room, and its three bedrooms (one of them squeezes in an en suite bathroom) are off to the right. There’s also a slender home office space beyond the rear utility, while the kitchen has a pine-clad ceiling, terracotta tiled floor and timber units. Other rooms have wood floors and wood-sheeted ceilings.
Outside, the well-kept gardens are a bonus, and have a glass house, storage shed, play shed painted a deep blue shade, and garden levels are stepped and tiered. It’s a 15 minute commute to the city centre and is perfect for singles, small families, or traders down, say Sherry FitzGerald of this new-to-market offering.
VERDICT: The site may leave scope for extension, and new owners might like to add a bedroom or two.
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