Trading up: Coachford, Lee Valley, Cork €395,000

Sq m: 293 (3,140 sq ft)

Big, then bigger again — that’s the quality Coachford home at Monareagh. Called The Beeches, the house is a 25-minute commute up the Lee Valley, from Cork City and its suburbs.

Extended and upgraded, on a wedge-shaped, one-acre site above the road, it measures 3,100 sq ft and is at least double the size of the house it was initially.

Selling agent, Terry Hayes, of REMAX, prices it at €395,000, and says there are now four reception rooms — in fact, the ground-level accommodation alone is substantial, including one of the five (double) bedrooms, plus utility and sun rooms.

There’s a simple, easy-on-the eye decorative flair, and even the red granite/quartz worktops and kitchen floor tiles seem to work to give a contemporary edge at The Beeches.

Rooms include lounge, a large, 24’ by 20’ living room, family room, TV room, office, conservatory plus a sun room, kitchen, and utility. There’s scope for a section to be used as a self-contained, one-bed granny flat.

VERDICT: Fine range of rooms and decent, one-acre site, with farmland to the rear and amenities up and down the Lee Valley.