Starter home: Ballintemple, Cork €225,000

Tommy Barker reports on a recent arrival in an old Cork city suburb.

Ballintemple, Cork €225,000

Sq m 102 (1,100 sq ft)

Bedrooms: 2

Bathrooms: 2

BER: C2

Best Feature: Smart

Blink and you’d nearly miss the houses on Ardcairn View, in Cork city’s Ballintemple. Although just nine years old, this infill development of bright, modern homes slots in well among its other older, terraced neighbours.

Now, though, No 7 is for sale, and with the expected foot traffic, it’s going to put this row on buyers’ radar for a period. Set just across the road from the ever-popular Copperhill development, this is an end-terraced two-bed home, with main en suite bedroom and the second bedroom having access to a second shower room, like a ‘Jack and Jill; arrangement , only more ‘Gill and/or guests.’

Although a two-bed (both doubles), it’s the size of many a three-bed, at 1,100 sq ft, and has an interior well above standard, crisp and modern, plus a solid C2 BER.

It’s new to market with Jim Coughlan of James G Coughlan Associates, who guides at €225,000 and who says it’s in excellent order, with a west-facing tiered back garden/yard.

Set on Churchyard Lane, No 7’s bang in the middle of Ballintemple, 50 yards from the junction with the Blackrock Road and where the Venue bar has reopened, and there’s a shop, post office, bank, bus stops, and the Marina and Atlantic Pond another few hundred yards away to the north.

Keeping pace with the Blackrock Road buzz right now are two recently-opened businesses, bookending this southern suburb. There’s the antiques and fine art shop McGonigle Walsh, by the church in Blackrock village, and the deli/cafe Salt by Kennedy Park.

This is a walk-in job, with double glazing, gas heating, and a 34’ by 14’ smart open plan living/dining/kitchen, plus utility.

VERDICT: Clean buy in hot location