TRADING UP
Sq m: 135 (1,450 sq ft)
Bedrooms: 4
BER rating: D1
Broadband: Yes
It’s heads up for Ballymacshoneen, a West Cork coastal location in the midst of the scenic Seven Heads peninsula — no better place for bracing coastal walks.
There’s a series of short looped walks devised, as well as a whopper of 42 kilometres, and the selection around Courtmacsherry, Timoleague and Barryroe takes in headlands, beaches, woods, rich pasture land, and flora and fauna. The routes were devised back in 1998, and the official guide booklet is one to pack with the flask and sangers.
Right, slap-bang in the territory and all this walking hinterland is this four-bed detached 1,450 sq ft bungalow, on an half an acre, on the market and ready for road with a €180,000 asking price via agent Ernest Forde of Hodnett Forde in Clonakilty.
He points out that planning permissions are rare and hard-won in this tightly-controlled area, and this purchase is open to all comers, so is an easy shoe-in to this Barryroe/Butlerstown spot, near to a cul de sac cove called Ballymacshoneen.
The bungalow has one of its four bedrooms en suite, there’s a main bathroom plus adjacent WC, a 17’ by 10’ living room with cast iron fireplace, and a larger kitchen/dining/living room.
VERDICT: Doesn’t have a sea view, but the ocean’s only a short walk away......
Sq m: 121 (1,300 sq ft)
Bedrooms: 3
BER rating: C2
Broadband: Yes
Extra money and effort has gone into 12 Westbury Estate, a three-bed semi-d with decor twists and garden bonuses, all with a €220,000 AMV via agent Johnny O’Flynn of Sherry FitzGerald.
Thanks to its 1,300 sq ft, it has scope for three reception rooms, and upstairs one of its three bedrooms is en suite, making for three WCs in all, and a good spec for the house’s age.
According to Mr O’Flynn, the walls have had their insulation upgraded (pumped into the cavity), as has the attic, windows are double-glazed and the boiler gives instant, ‘on-demand’ hot water to the taps rather than storing it in an immersion.
Overall condition, inside and out, is very good, with brick-paved front drive, and a west-facing, enclosed back garden with shed, decking and covered seating/gazebo by the back door. The three bedrooms are all doubles, and the rear dining room connects to the kitchen, with a separate front reception room, plus across the hall is a TV room/study, at 14’ by 8’, sort of converted garage size.
The whole of No 12 Westbury is in good order, turnkey state, says the selling agent, and the attic has Stira access and is floored, while most other rooms are done in semi-solid or laminate wood flooring.
VERDICT: A good mix of rooms on both levels, and the setting just off Sarsfields Road puts it within reach of many suburban services, shops, south ring etc.
Sq m: 250 (2,690 sq ft)
Bedrooms: 5
BER rating: B3
Broadband: Yes
There’s woods on-site, and off-site, at Kylemore, an eco-friendly large Co Clare family home, set near woodland by Ennistymon and on 0.75 of an acre.
Built about three years ago, and clad in timber, front back and sides as is the linked lofted garage, the home has lots of energy-saving features within its timber-frame close wall construction, says agent Danielle Kavanagh of McMahons in Ennis.
Features include an air-to-air heat pump, heat recovery system, solid fuel stove in the main lofty living area set into a chimney alcove, and vaulted ceilings and high gable windows in the 21’ by 17’ main living room, overlooked by a gallery landing. The interior’s kept fairly simple, apart from that scene-setting room, ‘though the kitchen’s a slightly brave choice with black gloss units, and oak tops — it works.
The house’s good floor plan also sees two ground floor bedrooms (or one plus study,) one’s en suite with walk-in dressing room, and there’s also an adjacent bathroom, while upstairs two of the other three bedrooms are en suite, the master bedroom too has a walk-in wardrobe, and there’s a landing overlooking the living room.
VERDICT: Near the sea at Lahinch, and Ennistymon with its spectacular river falls, this is a good eco-fit for its location.
Sq m: 184 (2,000 sq ft)
Bedrooms: 5
BER rating: E2
Bathrooms: 2
A corner site in Cork City’s western suburbs, has kept a link with its past — home to one of the original farmhouses of the Curraheen/Bishopstown neighbourhood
Now one of the very last of these traditional homes, albeit it much extended and updated, this new listing with auctioneer Jeremy Murphy (and a €20k price drop to €455,000 for the spring season) is good for decades and more yet to come as a family home. Called the Hedges, it has as key selling points originality, personality, a large corner site with the chance to do some gardening — all within a walk of schools, third-level colleges, the CUH, plus a short distance from both the ring road and Model Farm Road too.
Two-storey, detached, and with five bedrooms, two reception rooms and a full-width kitchen/dining room with range cooker, it’s a walk-in job as it is, spotlessly presented. But, as the owners kept faith with wood windows and single glazing it’s highly likely new occupants will upgrade to double or even triple glazing and watch the BER level pick up.
VERDICT: Private secure gardens, space, and parking plus sun terrace make for a country touch, in town.
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