Tended inside and out

Worth a visit for house hunters looking for land and a well-speced home, writes Tommy Barker

A good specification inside, and great gardens outside, make Bracken Lodge a should-see for home hunters who like some private ground, within a few minutes’ drive of Cork City.

Extended and renovated back in the later 1990s, with insulation enhanced and the entire package minded ever since, the 2,500 sq ft four-bed family home is on 0.6 of an acre at Clogheen, within easy reach of suburban Sunday’s Well, and of Blarney as well. Close too are CIT, UCC and CUH.

It’s new to market with Sheila O’Flynn and Michael O’Donovan of Sherry FitzGerald who guide it at €455,000, and who extol the quality of its grounds, its colourful planting and privacy.

Features include a private rockery, patio and gravelled sections, garden lighting, lawns and seating areas to admire all the work done here so far. Planting includes heathers and decorative hedges, azaleas and myriad other shrubs, beech and other trees.

There are views back towards Cork City, especially from the dual aspect large lounge with antique fireplace, and this bright room opens on to a south-facing 20’ by 14’ conservatory. There’s an even larger 23’ by 17’ family room behind, next to a kitchen/dining room plus utility, and there’s a guest WC also to the house’s rear in a corridor leading to an attached workshop.

Bracken’s Lodge’s four bedrooms are off to this bungalow’s other end, all with built-ins, two to the front, two behind, and two are en suite.

LOCATION: Clogheen, Cork

PRICE: €455,000

SIZE: Sq m 230 (2,500 sq ft)

BEDROOMS: 4

BATHROOMS: 4

BER RATING:D1

VERDICT: Gardens give Bracken Lodge a particular lift.