Ovens family home has got all the bare necessities

Tommy Barker says this exceptional family home has been seasonally set up to show it off at its very best.

Ovens, Cork €620,000

Sq m 184 (2,000 sq ft)

Bedrooms: 5 plus attic rooms

Bathrooms: 3

BER: C2

Best feature: All freshened up

A COMMITTED burst of landscaping back when Rockwood was first built is one its best attributes now that this detached home on almost an acre comes up for sale, just west of Cork city.

And, as it’s a couple of decades old and established now, its trees are big enough to hold hammocks, swings, slides and even treehouses, thanks to the ‘here’s some we planted previously’ approach.

The 2,000 sq ft detached and entirely stone-faced dormer home is just a short distance from Cork’s major employer EMC at Ovens, beyond Bishopstown and Ballincollig, and is just listed for sale this week with Sheila O’Flynn and Norma Healy of Sherry FitzGerald, priced at €620,000.

Ms O’Flynn says there are options to buy as it is, on large gardens, or on less ground if a buyer wants a smaller garden, as a piece can be taken off the far end of the acre without much, if any, of an imposition, at a price saving.

It was built day one on a generous site by its current owners, as a family home on farm land they owned, and is set past an electric entrance gate, up a long and freshly graveled drive, by trees just ready to burst into summer blossom, hues and finery. That colourful promise is heralded by the early arrivals such as camellias, azaleas and the like.

That quite pristine drive, in light chipped stones, continues right up to the front path in Liscannor stone flags, and a door in a mossy green shade, set in an entry porch in the same crafted sandstone as the rest of the house.

There’s a touch of a French Breton look to the approach, with side wing off to the end of the main block which has a feature arched stairwell window, and the house is protected under a good, stout slate roof.

That porch is sensibly floored in sisal or a fitted doormat material, ideal for cleaning off shoes before hitting the main, feature entrance — a double-height living room, with a few steps down to a family lounge, and beyond is a glass-roofed add-on, with French doors to the back garden: it gives an immediate visual impact, and invite to blaze a trail to the hospitable back patio and terrace, again decked out in hardy and worm-fossiled Liscannor stone, home to a pergola seating area with barbecue and al fresco dining spot, replete with cushioned benches.

Right now, done out for balmy evening BBQs and lolling, with hammock under a shady bower, it’s quite the picture for party scenes... weather permitting. Handily, just in case the weather breaks, or fails to turn up on cue, there’s a block built storage shed at the house’s far end, off the kitchen/utility room.

Now, while the house has original roots back most likely to the 1980s, its interior has been brought bang up to a more modern look and spec, with many of what was probably knotty pine panelling all spray-painted in fresh white tones which give an instant lift, and bounces light around its interior.

With five first floor bedrooms, as well as two big attic rooms, reached via a second flight of stairs, under the roof’s steep incline (painted pine panelling here too), there’s plenty of house to go around for new occupants. The current inhabitants are preparing to move to a new build, in Ballincollig, for a new life chapter.

The cheery look here is probably down to input from a neighbour, publisher and interior designer, Peigin Crowley, with some magic worked in making Rockwood hugely attractive to a wide range of viewers with children or teenagers in tow, thanks to its mix of private and public rooms.

The main core is the scene setter, or stealer, with its rising sandstone chimney breast getting extra height thanks to the step-down living area, railed off with white-painted balusters from the corridor/hall and stairs above.

The upper flight here has a living room/family room off to the west, with double aspect and open fireplace in an ornate cast iron and tiled surround, and behind it is a bright study, overlooking the back garden. Knocking these gable end rooms together would make for a lovely double-depth space.

Off to the far, eastern end is the kitchen, and utility plus dining room, already with a double aspect, and units here are painted, in shades of grey and off-white, with brown granite worktops, and with a large inset ceramic sink and drainer overlooking the back garden and terraces.

As in the rest of the house, windows and external doors are in hardwoods, mostly, double glazed, with tall casement windows in the main, freshly painted white in their insides.

Maintaining the windows, and dormers above, may take a modicum of effort every few years, but really the rest of the exterior is very maintenance-free thanks to all the stone.

Downpipes run in behind the stone outer leaf for clean-looking lines too, while the many square metres of Liscannor paving only need the odd power wash — a doddle compared to keeping wood decking in its prime.

Meanwhile, the new timbers creating the sheltering pergola for climbing plants is in pressure-treated timbers, so will last for years, by which time it should be well and truly entwined with roses, clematis, wisteria and whatever else takes off best, in this quite sheltered and south-facing garden spot.

Back inside, flooring throughout is as good as new, or entirely new, in most cases either in good, wide-plank wood laminates, or tiles (the kitchen and dining room have kept the original tiles, in ranges of stone colours,) and overhead the rooms and landings are carpeted, in neutral shades, while the bathroom has an antique cast iron roll-top bath.

As it comes to market, Rockwood really is in walk-in condition, decluttered and stripped back down to show it at its very best, and goes on open view today from 11am to 2pm, and again on Monday, Thursday and Saturday.

VERDICT: Like a showhouse.