Trading Up: Douglas Road, Cork €390,000

“A grand, solid block of a house” — so says Hugh McPhillips of Marshs auctioneers, seeing straight to the good points of the suburban four-bedroomed 11 Bellair Estate. 

And, indeed this decent semi-d is rock solid, with scope galore, but is in what he describes as ‘original’ condition, effectively a blank canvas for new occupants.

Built in the 1960s by the late Denis McCarthy, on the grounds of his family home Villa Nova, Bellair Estate crosses from Douglas Road to the Ballinlough Road, it’s an easy walk to and from Cork city centre, and a minute or two from the link road too via Boreenmanna Road.