Killeens, Blarney Cork home extended as labour of love - and much labour

Done as a labour of love, this stone-faced house close to Cork City and Blarney was once a compact two-up, two-down cottage - but no more.

It’s now doubled in size, and is a proper house in size and stature. Skillful handiwork and masonry skills blended the new gable-fronted extension to the left-hand side of the original cottage, with a lovely mix of sandstone and brick quoins and window reveals.

Now, the fully-finished home near the old Sunset Ridge at Killeens and Monard (an area still planned as a future development quadrant for metropolitan Cork) is for sale, listed with agent John O’Connell based in Mallow, who seeks offers around €300,000 for the three-bed home with just over 1,500 sq ft of living and sleeping space.

Its main room is a bright 26’ by 13’ living room, with double aspect and marble fireplace, and the upstairs bathroom has a Jacuzzi bath. Externally there’s a detached garage/studio, just needing some finishing off and the site is a neat size, with stone wall boundaries. The house has pvc fascia and soffits, and pvc double glazing but in frames that are a good match for the house.

VERDICT: As good as new, but with a patina and charm of age, on settled gardens all a ten minute commute from the city and Blarney.