House of the week: Douglas, Cork €695,000

Size: Sq m 265 (2,850 sq ft)

A BIG house, on a big site with access to a big green area, and hopes too of a big market response come with the package at 16, The Paddocks.

The detached five-bed home on a site that’s a surprising one-third of an acre in this Douglas village setting also has a big, and high-ceilinged attic space, ideal as a play area or private den. It adds about 250 sq ft to the already decent 2,850 sq ft on offer.

No 16, called Carrig Rua as it is built on a sandstone ridge, is brand new to market with agent Malcolm Tyrrell of Cohalan Downing who can be confident of getting, or surpassing his possibly cautious €695,000 asking price. After all, he recently sold a nearby Paddocks home, No 14, that was smaller, without the attic converted, and it was on a tighter site too.

No 14 the Paddocks shows up on the price register, at €680,000, having had a €725,000 asking price in May 2013.

While that went under its AMV, the past year’s market recovery has seen a big change in buying confidence and power, so it’s a racing certainty that No 16 will make, or surpass, its guide.

No 16 aka Carrig Rua has been in the same family’s hands since it was built by the Horgan family of livestock and horse-racing fame, on sloping fields that surrounded their former home Douglas House. (Its owners have a business background in insulation, so it was finished day one with cavity insulation plus insulated slabs inside, so it has good C2 BER.)

With design by Roderick Hogan, and with previously uncommon features inside like split levels and dressing rooms, the Paddocks created a stir, and houses here also re-sold well, with several topping €1m in the mid 2000s.

The site map for the Paddocks (which is at the foot of Maryborough Hill) shows No 16 having possibly the largest site of all, as it climbs up over three tiers to the back, where there’s a playhouse on the top level, and lots of privacy and maturity on every step in between.

And, as a real bonus for families moving in with younger children, there’s a secure gate at the back which opens out to a maintained four-acre green space rising up from the Paddocks’ lower section.

It’s a great place for groups of kids to kick a ball around, roam free, or slide down during snows.

Entry to Carrig Rua is at the very end of the Paddocks’ top entrance, with good off-street parking, good screening, and the house manages to hide its considerable size from the end of the avenue approach.

It’s one of the bigger types built here too, with a rear 15’ by 14’ sun room, and there’s stairs access to a high-pitched attic room 34’ long, with windows at either end, and just shy of 8’ wide.

At entry level where there’s a stepped hall, reception rooms are to left and right with hardwood floors, and the main lounge is 19’ by 13’ with bay window big enough to hold a baby grand piano.

Three steps lead from the hall to the back and the kitchen and family room, opening to the sun-room.

Off to the side is a utility, guest WC and a home office with store and back garden views, and which can be independently accessed from the front/side of No 16.

The easy-on-the-eye dash, tile and brick finishes make the exterior very low maintenance, and internal layout is very practical, with good balance of large ground floor, and bedrooms’ tally.

The master has a walk-in dressing room/robe, en suite and two other bedrooms share a second ensuite.

VERDICT: Just a decor update is all 20-year-old No 16 needs for new occupants.