House of the week

A leading Munster and Ireland rugby man is highest bidder on a fine family home in recent months on Cork city’s Blackrock Road — now, another top offer comes along to join the select scrum of suburban homes up for grabs.

While the house that caught the lofty player’s eye over the Christmas spell is an all-done up semi-d with swagger, this new kid joining the scant line-out on the Blackrock Road is an older, wiser head. It’s a c1940s detached five-bed, on a half-acre of tended ground with mature trees ringing its fringes, it’s got a rose bed in its centre, and it all looks like a ball was never kicked on it, or a divot heeled up on its lawns. It’s called Cranleigh, and it’s a runner.

Carrying a €875,000 asking price with agent Timothy Sullivan, who’s enthused about its immediate prospects, Cranleigh is at the junction of the Blackrock Road and Crab Lane, within a walk or a cycle of the city centre. It’s only ever had two owners, and whoever buys it this time around will be lucky, it’s rare to get so much living and garden space so close to town.