House of the week: Monkstown, Cork €360,000

The Vesey, or DeVesci, family owned estates of many thousands of acres in Irish counties, from Cork to Laois (where they had over 15,000 acres), and back in the 1800s they owned a swathe of land in Cork’s harbour area, between Monkstown and Passage West.

Sq m 140 (1,500 sq ft)

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms: 2

BER: B3

Best Feature: Style meets substance by Cork harbour’s Monkstown Village

The former Viscounts De Vesci papers in are NUIG Landed Estates archives, while the name lives on in Abbeyleix, and in Cork, in location names and on title deeds.

Carrying the name in a modest manner in Cork’s Monkstown is 5 De Vesci Place, and after a quite painstaking renovation, this home, dating from an earlier century or two, is up for sale, in the finest of refurbished fettle.

It was last sold to a man in the building line, an electrician, who gave it a thoroughly modern makeover in 2010/2011. Now, with rapidly growing children, the family are keen to move on to something bigger, with more outdoor space.

De Vesci Place is set towards the bottom of a steep, characterful hill up from the harbour bend opposite Verolme in gem-village Monkstown village, around the corner from the Bosun bar and restaurant.

Now all done up to the nines, No 5’s a well-finished and smoothly functioning mid-terrace home, entered on its middle level up a short flight of stone steps, above a lower-ground level, which is home to an open kitchen/dining and utility suite, and opening behind to a secure, walled-in and decked yard, with just enough space for a bit of sitting out, BBQ’s, and with a small storage shed also.

In its refurb, No 5 has had insulation upgrades from the ground floor up (100mm Kingspan fibre boards,) external walls are insulated, as is the boarded-out attic.

There are three solar panels on the roof, a 500 litre tank for a pressurised hot water system and power shower, or for the smart, double ended bath in the family bathroom. There’s also a guest loo, off the kitchen/dining level, down on the lower ground floor.

The heating, via a condenser oil burner, is in four zones, and wiring is also zoned, with alarm, CCTV, CAT 6 data cabling, surround sound and LED and CFL lamps, all helping to contribute to a very decent B3 BER.

By installing a stove in the main living room’s open fireplace (polished cast iron insert, with tiled inserts, in a distressed timber surround), this would rating rise further, to a B2, say the owners.

That attractive 17’ by 13’ living room (and the main bedroom overhead) has a nice, deep bay window, helping to make the room seem even wider than it is, and it gives views down the hill to the harbour, glinty grey on an overcast day, shimming in summer sun, with boats to watch.

Sit here in the bay window’s crook, on either level, and you know you’re living in the harbour’s catchment.

Part-glazed double doors open from this main living space to a smaller, back room, extensively shelved and used a den/play area: when open, they add to the impression of living space, as well as giving double aspect.

Floors here, and in the L-shaped hallway, are retained old, wide sanded and sealed pine boards, giving a real patina of age and use.

Overhead, up a carpeted stairs, are three bedrooms, two to the front, one behind, plus an attractive main family bathroom with heritage-style sanitary ware, roll-top bath with claw feet, and separate shower cubicle, and floor tiles are from Carrigaline Tile Centre, always getting admiration, note the occupants.

Selling agent Malcolm Tyrrell of Cohalan Downing guides the period era No 5 De Vesci Place at €360,000 and says it’s in the heart of Monkstown, where the owners “have kept the original charm and character of the property while creating a modern family home.”

Most changed of all is probably the lower ground level, home to a den-like quality and bespoke kitchen/dining room, with ceramic sink set into a bay with high-level sandblasted window to the outside streetscape, and wrapped around by thick, rough-ground marble worktops.

There’s a feature glass-block wall divide to a utility area, plus French doors to a decked rear patio garden with storage.

VERDICT: Very good to go, walk-in order after a painstaking nine-month refurb in old Monkstown, with the harbour just down the hill.