Trading up: Glanmire, Cork €550,000

Not all of the new house developments built in the boom were of the same-same design and quality.

While there was a lot of relatively homogenous stock churned out by the bigger, volume builders, some went a more individual route - Woodville is one of the latter.

Houses here were built around the retained old hardwood trees of the period house demesne at Woodville, near Glanmire by the back of the as-yet untouched Dunkathel House grounds.

This was a 53-house scheme (with 19 apartments by the original residence), done by Rossdale Developments, with contemporary designs in the 20 or so large detached houses done by Wilson Architects of Cork.

Given all the mature trees in the grounds, the cedar-clad sections of these houses look right at home, and other distinctive features are the floor-to ceiling corner windows, and some exposed C-section steelwork.

Back at its mid-2000s launch, detached four-beds in the Avenue section were priced at over €700,000, and a select few even larger 2,700 sq ft ones were well over €1 million.

Now, estate agent Kevin Barry has very well kept No 3 The Avenue for sale, listed at €550,000 for its c 1,700 sq ft.

He highly rates the extensively glazed design, the above-spec finishes and joinery, and one-third of an acre site.

Internally there’s a hall, large living room with walnut laminate floor and gas-insert fireplace, kitchen/dining room with walnut units, utility, guest WC, and four bedrooms, one with en suite.

VERDICT: Still-fresh designs