Trading up: Douglas, Cork, €275,000

Sq m: 140

There’s almost a farmhouse look to the South Douglas Road house Rathmore Ville. It’s almost 100 years old, and has been in the same family for decades.

Now, though, the two-storey 1,500 sq ft house (converted at one stage to two self-contained one-bed units, one per floor) comes for sale on a decent-sized corner site, brimming with further possibilities.

Agent Glenn O’Connor of DNG Creedon in Douglas guides at €275,000, and reckons the site could be up to a half an acre, overgrown toward the back, with enough space behind for a second dwelling, a replacement, or a major extension. In any case, it needs work, so bring a builder, engineer, or architect.

It’s at the entrance to Rathmore Lawn, an estate of semi-ds linking into Rhodaville and onto the main Douglas Road by the Briar Rose bar, and across Rathmore Lawn is a modern commercial building currently occupied by a law practice, and previously a butcher’s and a shop.

Meanwhile, directly across the South Douglas Road, agent Trish Stokes of Lisney has gone ‘sale agreed’ at about €380,000 on a landmark half-acre property mix that includes old stables, yard, and a cleared house site.

VERDICT: Rathmore Ville could be a most interesting project for someone.