House of the Week

IF you can’t afford this week’s stunning Cover Story property inside this issue — perhaps none too surprising as it’s priced at €2.2m — then maybe our modest ‘House of the Week, at less than just 10% of the cost, might fit the bill and budget.

Welcome to No 3, Arundel Villas, a larger-than-expected home, in a quiet setting, and with a €190k asking price. There’s a secret setting feel to Arundel Villas; it’s a hideaway, leafy and short terrace off Cork city’s Old Blackrock Road opposite the old Rochelle school apartment scheme — blink and you’d miss the entrance.

In fact, the way in to Arundel Villas is a wide pedestrian gate only, where even the address nameplate has gone partly missing, thus adding to the mystery of finding the spot.

There are two rows of terraced homes here, a block of four at the back, tall and handsome Victorian redbricks in original livery with gardens, and on the way in to them is the 1940s terrace of another four, smaller houses on neater sites, and it’s here in this run that No 3 come fresh to market.

The last house here to come for sale was about five year ago, No 4, and it arrived with a €320,000 asking price, and since than it has been done up.

In fact, the houses one either side of No 3 (ie, 2 and 4) have now had external insulation added to them, making it an unobtrusive and sensible job for No 3’s buyers to do likewise, for extra cosiness, and similarly No 3 is going to need its single glazed aluminium windows replaced. But, then, after that, it’s down to the fun stuff, the decorative stuff, as there’s really no big other sums to be spent here, as it’s already underpinned with drains replaced. With a decent floor plan and amount of space, No 3 will turn around very easily — it’s the sort of place you can imagine featuring in an interiors magazine’s ‘Before and After, on a Budget’ slot.

It looks modest, to be sure, from the front facade, but it’s deep, yet bright enough too from its deep form, with a good-sized living room and an even larger living/dining room behind, and two of the three bedrooms are also well sized: even the third bedroom, while small, is OK as there’s lots of built-ins, so you only need to get a single bed in to round out the space.

Selling agent is Jeremy Murphy, who rightly says there’s a bit of a special feel to No 3, and he’s looking forward to viewings with it. There’s a sense that people will ‘get’ it, if it fits their needs, he reckons.

It faces east, with an enclosed west-facing small yard, and has a graveled front garden, so its not going to suit those who want lawns and play areas for kids. Similarly, there’s no parking by the doorstep as the terrace is off-street (and nicely off-radar), but there’s residents’ parking up and down the Old Blackrock Road. And, the city centre’s a short walk away, either via the South Infirmary junction, or down Rockboro Avenue towards the Elysian.

Internally, No 3 has a front sitting room with deep bay window looking to greenery across the access lane, there’s a linked living/dining room behind, with a galley kitchen with overhead south-facing clearstory window, adjoining utility/store, and guest WC in the single-storey annexe. Both living rooms have open fireplaces, one with back-boiler, and there’s gas central heating.

Overhead, all three bedrooms have built-ins and the bathroom has recently been refitted with shower, retiled, etc.

VERDICT: Good vibes. Looks to be an easy do-er upper, just needing external insulation and windows and the snug, smug factor will soar.