Trading up: Blackrock Road, Cork: €385,000

Much of the best of the old was kept when the new broom came in for an energy efficiency upgrade at Cork’s 42 Marina Park a few years ago. 

Things like the hall’s terrazzo floor got to stay, as did the original 1930s cast iron bath: quite incredibly, the 80-year old house scored a B3 energy rating in a recent survey.

The owner spent very heavily on adding to its comforts, and it now has a modern tiled bathroom with separate shower plus original bath, the kitchen has been refitted, with oak units, insulation has been enhanced and there’s a modern condenser boiler, so it’s a comfortable buy, says estate agent Mark Gosling of Behan Irwin Gosling.