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.

Guiding at €390,000, this brick and dash house has four excellent-sized bedrooms, and two reception rooms each a tad larger than in your standard semi, seemingly with an extra few inches of height too, plus wide hall with arch, modest kitchen, kitchen store, guest WC, and cloakroom.

These houses are very extendable, with great open attic areas and a number of neighbours have gone three storeys, among other extension options.

West-facing No 11 has a detached 150 sq ft garage and fuel store which could easily be integrated into a rear kitchen extension, ideal for grabbing south-facing light.

VERDICT: Primed for renewal, it’s in an utterly convenient location.