Starter home: Model Farm Road €139,000

DO it up, or knock it down? Both are options at Rose Cottage, a restoration project — in the politest terms — on one of Cork’s most ‘prestigious’ addresses, the Model Farm Road. 

Size: 87 sq m (930 sq ft)

Bedrooms: 2

Bathrooms: 1

BER: G

Described as a charming cottage by estate agent, Brian Olden, of Cohalan Downing, it’s catching the eye of a wide cross-section, from first-time buyers to traders-in, and traders down, and investors.

It’s priced at €139,000, and that may be only half the budget, by the time it is back in use as a home once more. Rose Cottage hasn’t been lived in for several years, and everything now needs to be redone.

Points in its favour include its location, right at the Dennehy’s Cross end of the Model Farm Road, opposite the Lee Garage, so UCC, the Bons, CUH and CIT are all within a walk (see also House of the Week p2), as is the Model Farm Road Technology Park, County Hall, Lee Fields and Mardyke — even the city centre itself. Plus, it’s on two bus routes.

Then, there’s off-street parking, a slight front garden with southerly aspect as a boundary, and a walled back garden.

As for the house as it stands? It’s compact, at 930 sq ft and has two first-floor bedrooms, and three rooms below, and it’s linked to a well-kept home of similar vintage, just to the city side.

Locals says there’s a small sequence of cottages in this area, which were originally associated with Brookfield House, on College Road, and now part of UCC’s medical school.

VERDICT: Expect lots of bidding competition.