Trasna could be the ‘must buy’ of the coming year, €695,000
It’s hard not to tumble into peons of praise, admiration and, oh, heck envy too, over the job done at Trasna, a Victorian semi-detached home on Cork city’s Cross Douglas Road. For thems with the money, it could be the ‘must-buy’ of the coming year, or two, or three.
Why so? Well, sheer, unadulterated quality from the ground up, and the front gate to the far-distant garden summerhouse; every square foot in between has been overhauled, seemingly with nary a thought to cost: if it was right, it was done that way, no compromise.
It’s only a couple of weeks on the market with Mark Rose of Rose Property Services in Douglas, and already he’s had dozens of viewings, and a couple of offers to boot.
He guides at €695,000, and that’s putting nobody off — expect it to be bid far higher, because even at that level, there’s value. Way, way more than this has been spent on it in its protracted, stem-to-stern renewal.
It last changed hands after going up for sale in 2004 with a €700,000 price tag, and all the work was done in 2006 to bring it to a far higher level of finish and comfort. How much more was spent? Must be hundreds, and hundreds, of thousands of euros, done at the market peak, when labour and materials carried premium prices. Undeterred, the owners have, according to sources, built brand new, and on a larger scale since, out of town.
Transa is now a walk-in job, so pristine still seven years after being upgraded that viewers are asked to don those blues plastic shoe covers at the front door to protect floors and rugs.
Like most of the viewers, auctioneer Mark Rose is in awe of the finished product: “if you were to scratch below the surface, you’ll find the quality goes right back and through. It’s not one of those houses that impresses superficially, and then tends to disappoint the closer you look at it; it’s sheer quality,” he remarks.
The work started with digging up Trasna’s floors, putting down a radon barrier, insulation and new screed, and going on from there, unstintingly. The main, interlinked rooms now have solid walnut floors, lacquered or French polished to a deep lustrous shine, and from there to the far-distant back of the house, it’s pretty much travertine tiling all the way, the real stuff.
Along the way, there’s now a central vacuum system on all three levels, with the pump and extract outside in a separate utility/boiler house, next to a very large water storage tank for the pressurised system, with zoned heating.
The house has CAT 5 cabling for full-on IT connectivity, and a plethora of wiring that spans entertainment, sophisticated fire detection and alarms, lighting, alarm and video intercom from the front gate to any of three release points within the house.
Let’s start again, from the front, to back. Once past the gates Trasna is quietly impressive from the get-go, with easy off-street parking on a subtly-lit drive of stone slabs and gravel, a sort of hopscotch challenge to the porch. There’s three floors of accommodation and 2,400 sq ft in this Victorian beauty, topped off by a lofty balcony off one of the two attic level bedrooms. The house is painted a calm blue in shade, with replaced double-glazed sash windows, in low-maintenance pvc, with a slender side access passage to the back garden. A real extra is the fact it has far easier rear access via a right of way behind its conjoined semi called Rosnalee: it was a real access boon for the builders and landscape gardeners when Trasna was a work-in-progress.
To the back, with its perfect west-facing rear aspect, Trasna has had the full landscaping makeover, with power supplied, garden lighting all along, feature trees and old apple trees highlighted. Among the several key, eye-catching features is the sunken firepit/barbecue spot, ringed around in Liscannor stone and fringed with rustling bamboos and other hardy exotics. Follow the winsome path to the garden’s end, and the site is book-ended by an extremely handsome, properly built garden-house, pine clad for a rustic look but anchored and warmed by a block-built chimney for a warming stove.
There’s about 400 sq ft here, 100’ or more away from the main house, and this wooden house is painted and plastered internally with French doors, timber windows, and Veluxes overhead — a real den, play space, home office, gym, or even au pair’s quarters. It’s got power to hand, but is not yet fully plumbed.
This summer-house looks back along the garden’s length to the main house, glimpsed among the greenery at its deep rear, single-storey extension marked by Plantation shutters across all of the gable end — and these very high-end shutters also feature extensively in a number of other internal settings.
On the interiors side, estate agent Mark Rose says the work was done and overseen “with the assistance of top local designers, insulators and craftsmen,” and says the fact the 100-year old house has secured a C1 BER energy rating is a testament to the detail pursued by this team.
It’s got top brand wallpapers, principal room curtains are interlined silks and linens, and the blinds are the aforementioned plantation shutters that look and flick like they came at eye-watering prices.
Above, carpets are wool, stair rods are solid brass, walls have dado and wainscoting where appropriate, and ceilings have restored coving and plaster roses. Wall finishes, whether wallpapers or painted, are exemplary. Among the tradespeople credited with work here is joiner John Noonan for the library shelving, and bedrooms’ built-ins, such as the master bed’s handcrafted wardrobes, with crystal handles and silk-lined glass doors.
Kitchen units are painted timber, in smooth, pale blues from Glenline, topped with a pink-flecked granite, and appliances are Neff, Electrolux, Fisher and Paykel and others, with waste insinkerator, larder presses, American fridge, and a nifty kitchen island, on castors for choice of placement.
There are four bathrooms in all (mostly Villeroy and Boch, Jacuzzi, etc, with Sottini taps), from the ground floor guest loo in the extension (between the high-ceilinged family room and the kitchen,) and there’s a family bathroom with bath and separate shower; there also a shared ‘Jack and Jill’ en suite between the attic level’s two bedrooms.
And, then, there’s a deluxe en suite with the very large east-facing master bedroom, where this main penthouse hotel-like suite has a large capacity dressing room/robes en route to the private bathroom, again with marble floor. There’s even a balcony by the window, facing over the back garden, on this mid-level, with yet another balcony facing east, on top of the double-height front facade deep bay.
Trasna had been extended to the back by its previous owner, and it appears that in this most recent considerable makeover very little new space was added (bar the garden house), yet everything inside and out has been refashioned, tweaked, upgraded and had money lavished on it. It presents almost like a showhouse, but this is most likely the way it was lived in before the young family of owners moved on, up and out.
All a new owner might want to do is furnish the place — and even at that, they might be tempted to raise the bids on the whole package and buy it close to fully-furnished.....it would be hard, in any case, to improve on its current look, bar moving in personal items and art.
Apart from condition and accommodation, location is top-notch and aspect is bang on, so it’s a sure seller, especially given the volume of immediate interest, viewings and bids. As a price comparison, think of the similar era and super-smart (but less invested in) semi-d Toorak on the Blackrock Road, which sold within weeks of going to market at end summer 2013: Toorak had been guiding €675,000, but made €770,000 to a cash-rich buyer. Trasna might yet top that.
VERDICT: Hard to find a flaw here, so expect frustrated well-heeled traders up who’ve waited for such a gem to come along to go in hot pursuit.
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