House of the week: Model Farm Road, Cork €565,000

Size: 190 sq m (2,045 sq ft)

IT’S hard not to speculate about the amount of medical consultants that will throw an appreciative eye over Coolmaine — it’s just the sort of house this strong buying cohort favours, in a location that will suit them right down to the ground.

Of course, there’ll be others from different trading-up backgrounds also lining up to view this five-bed detached home; the location is just so convenient for families with school-going, and especially college-going, offspring. It’s on the city end of the Model Farm Road, opposite Farranlea Park and the Rendezvous bar, which puts it within a walk of colleges at UCC and CIT; also immediately walkable are the Bon Secours hospital, and the sprawling CUH/maternity hospital campus, which is almost on the backdoor of Coolmaine via the Bishopstown Avenue entrance.

Named after the West Cork beach near Kilbrittain, this Coolmaine is a very well-kept mid-1900s dormer home, which has all the hallmarks of regular investment and upgrades, by a family as into their gardens as they are in their home. They’ve been here for years, and are now trading down, say estate agents Johnny O’Flynn and Sheila O’Flynn of Sherry FitzGerald.

They launch the very smart home at €565,000, and say it’s one of the few quality detached houses to come along on the inner western suburbs for some time: they expect strong interest and consequent bids. Whether business or other professional buying clusters will manage to see off the myriad medics likely to pass over its threshold remains to be seen.

It has been extended in a modest enough way to the side and rear, so now there’s just shy of 2,050 sq ft here in all, and the roof tiles and front dormer clay tiles all look fresh and quite recent, with twin bay windows down below on the balanced front facade, with a central hardwood door. There’s a central drive, lawns and shrubs either side and enough parking for a few cars — but, it’s to the back the gardens really score, with one-third of an acre in all on site.

The back of the house faces south, overlooking immaculately tended lawns, flower beds, conifers and flowing trees, along with a patio and several steps to the main level. The 19’ by 12’ kitchen/dining room has two decent-sized windows soaking in all that southern light and horticultural investment, and if the house were being designed today, any architect worth his or her salt would have a wall of glass or sliding doors making even better use of this perfect aspect and private vista.

Sharing the same view is the first floor en suite master bedroom, and again more glass wouldn’t go astray up here. It’s likely that at least some viewers will take the €565k asking price in their stride, and factor in a contemporary extension budget as the house, site and setting all will make the extra spend worth the investment.

Current accommodation sees two reception rooms to the front, a 14’ by 13’ living room to the left with slate fireplace, and a far larger, interlinked 25’ by 13 living/dining room to the right with another original fireplace, and sliding patio door to the rear by the dining area. There’s also a long, slender study reached off the dining end, and this study has a pull-down stairs to a further store room, whilst across on the other side of the house is an en suite fifth bedroom, handy for guests, teens or grandparents.

The first floor has three doubles and a single bedroom, one en suite, and a main bathroom with power shower.

Coolmaine has solid wood floors downstairs, kitchen in American oak, oil central heating and an alarm, and after insulation upgrades, it gets a good C1 BER rating too.

VERDICT: Very good as it stands, and perfect for a contemporary design twist at the back if buyers have the extra bobs.