Trading up: Maryborough, Cork €350,000

Sq m: 112 (1,200 sq ft)

The high winds of winter may have blighted gardens and forestry, felling trees all before them, but the upside is the opening up of new views, and extra sunlight in places previously in shade.

Now, some recent tree felling at the grounds of Maryborough House Hotel has let more light into the mature gardens of 44 Lime Trees East, a 1960s estate. Here, No 44 backs up to the grounds of the successful hotel and its acclaimed acres of woodland grounds on the edge of Douglas Village, a few minutes’ walk away.

No 44 has sliding doors connecting its reception rooms, there’s a recently fitted kitchen, guest WC, four beds upstairs, plus main bathroom and an attached garage “crying out for conversion to a family room or study, or into which the kitchen could be extended,” says Tom Woodward of Woodward auctioneers of this family home near lots of amenities, with parking and gardens front and back.

A big bonus is the maturity and privacy of the back garden, in three tiers and extensively shrubbed, sunnier now than in recent decades due to the tree clearance. No 44 has oil heating, and double glazing with a respectable D2 BER.

VERDICT: A decent-sized semi-d in a well-set estate near the south ring road network and Douglas village.