Period charm meets river view off the Lee Road in Cork

A sun-washed viewing terrace is the opener to country house style off Cork’s Lee Road. Rose Martin reports.

Lee Road, Cork €425,000

Sq m:222 (2,400 asq ft)

Bedrooms: 5

Bathrooms: 4

Best feature: Where does one start?

TAKE a sunny June morning – take a spring in the step along the resplendent Lee Road. God is in his heaven and all’s right with the world. We have warmth, we have sun at last. The perfect day to go a-viewing.

Sharp turn right, quick pull up a stubby hill and count to no 3. Ah, the faint blue glimmer of a keypad lock — this must be the place, number 3 Rose Hill, set on a little dog leg off the Lee Road, right by Wellington Bridge.

Quick count – it’s one of a handful of terraced houses and the colour scheme has a certain uniformity – the row is white – a good sign as it means the neighbours don’t only talk, they agree.

Big deal really, it means they have the same goal and a sense of community. There is one property looking a bit left out – doubtless it will make its way to dazzling white at some stage.

However, the old limestone steps beckon and it’s up to the entrance where a sun-washed viewing terrace awaits.

This is a bit of a scene-stealer on this day.

Traffic is slow to quiet, birds sing, the scent of elder is on the air and the water glistens in the weir below.

Joggers pass by the back of The Kingsley and there’s a sense of joy in the air. Summer at last. Ah but this is a great old city after all.

Then, there’s the step inside – and a flood of recognition – good country house style, no folderols, no insensitively just good taste.

There’s marble flooring on the entrance hall, which is not huge, but it has period charm and is beautifully presented in soft colours and muted striped wool runner on the stairs.

The trusty console (which our interiors’ writer Carol O’Callaghan is constantly exhorting) is by the door, with a lamp and a beautiful bouquet of flowers: house staging 101.

You can’t stage warmth however, and that ephemeral feeling is something you can’t taste in a brochure – it’s why people should view more houses than they want to – trawl wide and you’ll find a catch. This is one too.

You expect the odd off-note here and there with period houses – a cold corner, a gentle whiff of damp or staleness, but this house doesn’t have either.

Maybe it’s the solid rock foundation, maybe it’s the south-facing aspect or maybe it’s just been loved for years and the care shows.

And it could be down to the fact that the sun rises at the back and then moves around all day. Aspect is the other critical element in house health.

So you turn right and into the more formal living room with its mixed classic sofas giving just the right amount of relaxed comfort and a fine old fireplace at the room’s centre.

(A phone call to the owner later reveals the sofas were made by the Suite cottage and recovered by Ken Jackson –he also made the pretty lady chair).

The story with the fireplaces is fascinating in that it tells of the pains the couple took to restore this house – they hired a firm in Dublin to remove each one, restore them and find suitable fittings – and then put them all back together again.

Each and every one works and so do all of the chimneys, (owner again says house is made for Christmas with fires blazing)..

The sash windows received the same treatment and they even got a small heritage grant from Cork City Council because they’re fitted with very old, hand-made glass.

Again, they were in fairly good condition anyway, and only required new cords in some cases and the odd bit of patching.

The move to double-glazing was resisted for the sake of not just authenticity but for the even better reason of preserving the past. Now, they gleam in white livery.

The structure of this three-storey, five-bed was very carefully renovated, the wallpaper of ages was peeled but cornicing, shutters and old pitch pine doors were encouraged to shine again.

There’s a deft touch to the restoration, but where a new extension was added, it’s honestly new.

Strikingly so, as the kitchen is a glassy, rather than glossy, affair by Leicht and sourced through Keating’s Furniture and topped with white granite worktop.

There was a bit of a stand-off about the Aga, but in this case it was the male half of the partnership who insisted on the thrumming cooker at the kitchen’s centre.

He grew up with one and it was put in place, his wife is now a convert too.

The kitchen was designed by architect Deirdre Ryan (who also lectures at CIT) and she made a clever and ergonomic space out of a former lean-to shed and back kitchen.

With wide double doors that open back to the stone-flagged terrace dominated by high cliffs of red sandstone, this is a dramatic view over one’s cornflakes.

The gorgeous kitchen table (which is moving with the family) was handmade by Imago on the Tramore Road and the curved island acts as a defensive barrier for the cook.

The back wall is a sleek flow of built-in storage in the kitchen’s units and a small space is hived off to the left for a utility.

Small but perfectly formed, its shelving runs to ceiling height and it holds a washer, dryer and sink. A masterpiece.

The kitchen runs through to the second living room (with modern fully glazed doors for flexibility) and this room has a big, black slate fireplace with lush velvet sofas (made by Ken Jackson) ranged around.

Flooring is all new (the floors and ceilings were all restored in the house’s makeover) and is soft sheen walnut, which works really well with period homes.

The one glaring and rather triumphant note is blared by a bright green console from Ikea. Great, it just shows how the owners will never be too precious about their property.

Slipped under the hall stairs is a cute, guest bathroom and it adjoins a playroom to the rear of the living room – it used to be a study at one stage, all books and red paint – but is now the children’s domain. It has a fine window overlooking the terrace behind.

Then, up the stairs to the a large, north-south landing – with our front page image as the main view outwards – this house probably has a better view of the river than those with direct access to the water, it just has the perfect viewing slot.

Rooms are ranged right and left – to the right is the master bedroom, with a very impressive master suite in soft hues and a single colour scheme – always a winner – along with electric underfloor heating and a heated towel rail.

This room has its own fireplace and it’s finished with a very dramatic and very luxe, suede headboard created by Ken Jackson – it runs around the bed frame which was bought in Casey’s. Total, understated luxury.

Occasional furniture is quality but slight turn of the century buys from Keighery’s in Waterford.

Baby girl’s room is, as might be expected, a bit on the pink side, but then it’s offset by a lovely brass bed and delicate touches – again, there’s another good fireplace here, but the most unusual piece is at the rear, in the house’s study/fourth bedroom.

The back bedroom and main bathroom are part of the new extension at the rear and are treated in a modern way, with carrara marble tiling in the bathroom and a wall of built-ins in the guest bedroom.

Then the next surprise – access to the attic space is via a circular stairs to an office area and even more space, with any number of uses and a bathroom that’s straight out of Alice in Wonderland.

All of this house – there’s quite a lot on offer even though you wouldn’t expect it from outside – is on offer at €425,000 – still just under half a million, but by other comparisons, a very good price for a property of this quality.

And that brings us to why someone with a house this good would move?

“We weren’t moving– we loved the house, loved where it is – we’re both working and we didn’t want to be commuting. But the boys are mad into hurling and football and now’s the time for more space...”

Sam Kingston of Casey Kingston is the selling agent for no 3 Rose Hill.

Verdict: The asking price hardly represents the amount of investment that’s gone in here over the almost 20 years since the couple has been in occupation.

Now it’s someone else’s turn to stroll up to Sunday’s Well for the paper and bread and cheese on Saturday morning; to go for a swim in the Mardyke or the Kingsley; to cycle to St Catherine’s or St Joseph’s to school with the kids – or just to hear the weir rushing in full spate.

No cold corners, no whiff of damp here