A little pre-Christmas gift well worth unwrapping

Barrack Street, Cork City €150,000

Small, sweet, and almost promising by its address alone, No 42 Prosperity Square is a bit of find. In fact, it’s a lot of a find, in a small and well-wrapped parcel.

Set on a corner here off Cork city’s venerable old Barrack Street, facing into the entrance to this enclave of artisan homes grouped in and around the square, No 42’s a tiny two-bed, with its chest puffed out a bit by a bit of style, and opened up more than its original layout would have allowed for, thanks to interconnecting rooms through its ground floor.

There’s also a cleverly lowered wall from the front room to the tiled hall inside a vestibule, which allows light through from a gable window: it’s a smart, smart idea. And, it’s all been done with a eye for style.

Living in Prosperity Square seems like a rite of passage for thousands of Cork citizens, and blow-ins alike. You’ll always meet someone who has lived here or has rented here, though there’s only about 60 terraced houses here in all.

Feeling carefully owner-occupied and tended, No 42 Prosperity Square has been in the same owners’ hands for several decades and now, at eventual moving on time, carries a modest-seeming guide of €150,000 with agent Jarlath Boyd of Timothy Sullivan Associates. He started viewings last weekend, numbers are already into double digits, and the reaction is wholly positive. People just seem to love it.

Mr Boyd says No 42’s condition is superb and that’s it’s finished to a high specification, while still retaining character. In fact, it’s got a sort of retro decor vibe going on, especially in the high-wainscoted dining section, complete with built-in bench by a sturdy oak 1930s dining table, and early 1900s sideboard.

A flat arch separates/links the cosy, wood-floored front sitting room with a open cast iron fireplace and the narrower dining area, about 19’ long in all between these two rooms. Then, continuing, and narrowing further is a busy but functional galley kitchen beyond, with overhead Velux.

Despite its size, this kitchen holds a clatter of saucepans and cooking paraphernalia, with cookery books aplenty. There’s a gas hob mounted on the solid timber worktops, with separate electric oven underneath, and there’s a bit of stainless steel vibe going on too for a cheffy edge. The splashback is in dark blue tiles, contrasting with a bright yellow wall-length shelf above, and the floor is also tiled in a small, neutral terracotta.

Also at ground level is a main bathroom with - unusually for any house, and even more so for one where space is at premium - both bath and stand-alone walk-in shower. Tiling standards here are high, with white metro tiles, and the sink’s a quality ceramic one, on a freestanding plinth next to a wall-mounted stainless steel towel heating rad.

Upstairs, meanwhile are two bedrooms, one with dual aspect thanks to another gable wall window. No 42 has gas heating, no yard or private rear space but has residents’ on-square parking, and the city centre’s a five minute walk away, with UCC also a stroll.

The just extensively re-paved and upgraded Barrack Street (with car-crunching speed bumps) is on the doorstep with an eclectic mix of long-established and ethnic shops, plus Tom Barry’s trio of characterful pubs, plus La Tana pizza and top Italian grub to go, while almost across the street is the citadel-like Elizabeth Fort.

VERDICT: Small and suite