Trading up: Glanmire, Cork, €320,000

Sq m: 140 (1,500 sq ft)

There are lots and lots of modern, new-builds in and around Cork’s Glanmire but detached ones dating back a century or even two are few and far between.

Thus, there should be a spread of interest in the fully reworked Rose Cottage, a south-facing 1,500 sq ft four-bed home on Church Hill which has had a sympathetic extension, full refurb and decoration, without losing sight of the fact it dates to the early 1800s, when it was built as part of the Glenkeen Estate.

Guiding €320,000, estate agent Frances O’Brien of DNG Murphy Condon (who has just sold the Glounthaune presbytery within a few short weeks of coming to market, to local buyers for €260,000) says all the work has been done to a high standard. She bills it as a period gem, mixing the best of old and new, with a side gable sun-room and rear extension nicely blended in. It has new sash windows, in pvc and double glazed, and it also has oil heating with fine, period era fireplaces in each of the two reception rooms.

The kitchen has new maple units and the back wall has been stripped back to the original stone; this room opens to the conservatory and to the sunny patio. Upstairs, two of the four bedrooms have en suites, and some characterful shapes and pine-clad ceiling sections too.

VERDICT: Rose Cottage and its settled, stone-walled site wears its age lightly.