Gunning for Highbury?

If you have the arsenal in your wallet, now’s the time to make a pitch, says Tommy Barker

There’s a heft to this hillside house called Highbury, on the south-facing slopes of Cork’s Glounthaune — and half its appeal is its horticulture and years of garden planting. A new-to-market arrival with Clare O’Sullivan and Catherine McAuliffe of Savills, there’s a sizeable four-bed home of 1,700 sq ft, on a 0.7 acre plot on offer for €300,000. The catch? It all needs doing up.

Built in the 1970s, it’s remarkable for the era in that it was built without central heating, and still doesn’t have it, so that’s likely to be the fist thing a new owner will look at doing. Upgrading glazing will be another must-do: despite being south-facing the large windows lose as much heat once the sun dips as they bring in during a bright day. At present, there’s electric heating downstairs only, plus fireplaces in each of the two ground floor reception rooms.

So, viewers intending to drop by for a look-see can definitely expect to find Highbury a bit dated internally, but shouldn’t be put off by the reasonable work needed — it will, after all, allow a stamp of individuality, as well as doing work and re-insulation to a higher level of energy efficiency that would have been the case 10 or even five years ago.

Where the owners clearly spent their time, and lavished their labour and hours, was in the 0.7 acres of grounds and gardens, turning russet and autumnal right now, but a colourful patchwork nonetheless surrounding this house on a hill.

Setting is at Annmount, below the leafy grounds of a former period home which has left this hill above Glounthaune village graced by its previous centuries of tree planting: it’s sort of gardener’s heaven up here, thanks to the aspect, and there’s views over Cork harbour as well, a bit of a bonus.

Highbury’s two-storey, with a 21’ wide and 8’ deep conservatory added some time ago to the front for the light and views, and it has some of its best glimpses out from its upstairs, where there are four bedrooms (three doubles plus a single) and a main, lino-floored bathroom.

The largest space is the 19’ by 13’ living room, with double aspect and a corner window in front, and that corner window features again directly overhead in the main south and east facing bedroom. The dining room is off at the western, or city end, with the kitchen in the middle, and there’s a utility behind — all in all, a practical layout, but extendable too in time.

According to estate agent Clare O’Sullivan, Highbury’s only a couple of minutes uphill from Glounthaune’s village services and commuter rail station, with Cork city about five or six miles away. Key selling points are the location, sunny aspect, well-stocked and tended gardens done for year-round colour, and a practical price which reflects the spending needed on the house itself.

VERDICT: You can turn a house around in the space of a few months with good trades-people and an engineer/designer, but gardens like Highbury’s take years to get so lush, colourful and green.