House of the week: Douglas, Cork €900,000
A solid, detached family home, Cork’s Daingean is at the far end of the cul de sac Woolhara Park, off the main Douglas Road, sort of half way between city and Douglas village.
It’s one of a cluster of similar niche parks along the Douglas Road (including Knockrea and ‘old’ Endsleigh) that appeal to the upwardly mobile, of a certain financial means and stretch; this arrival to market is going to cause a bit of viewing and bidding kerfuffle.
It’s just listed this month with Shane Russell Russell Estate Agents based in Midleton, and at a price hope of €900,000, it’s a covetable sale instruction, as it ticks just so many buyer boxes.
Daingean has an ace location, a perfect east-west aspect with west-facing back gardens, and the grounds stretch to 0.27 of an acre, while the house itself currently weighs in a quite-modest 1,750 sq ft, but its eminently extendable.
Not too bad at all, for starters.
Nearby, along the main Douglas Road, the most significant recent resale was of a contemporary, architect-designed house called Mosman a year ago, fetching €900,000, in walk-in condition.
And, at the corner of Rosebank a bungalow called The Elms sold two years ago for €770,000, well over a €695k guide and now is almost finished a major rebuild, with a first floor now being added.
Deep inside Woolhara Park, Daingean has been a very well-kept family home, likely dating the early-mid 1900s, and has been in the same family’s ownership since 1969.
The owners are now trading down elsewhere in the city, as the gardens are too large and not used enough.
They bought it back in 1969 from a UCC horticulturist, who hailed from Dingle, or An Daingean, and who left his hometown’s name behind him, on a name-plate in the old Irish script, on this house when he sold.
It’s carpeted and wallpapered and comfortable, but would be considered dated by today’s generation.
It has above-standard internal design touches, such as an internal arch in the central hall, and it has original tiled fireplaces in two of its three reception rooms, with a third in white marble, and all have hardwood surrounds.
The fireplace in the family room, which overlooks the expanse of back garden through sliding patio doors in a slight bay window surround, is especially nice, with beaten copper canopy and cast iron surround.
Out the back is where most changes are going to be made by Daingean’s next occupants: right now, half the back of the house is screened by a garage/outhouse building.
So, for new owners, it will be all change out here, and it will be down to budget really how dramatic the alterations and extension will be. It could take an extra wing, or even two, and glass could feature heavily: it’s primed for it.
Thanks to the site size, there’ll be little concern about gobbling up outside space either, while the front is nicely set off the Woolhara cul de sac, by a tight turning and there are mature boundaries all around.
Agent Shane Russell describes the gardens as “delightful and impressive,” and say the detached house is in good condition, well-kept but also deserving of modernisation.
“Properties with such potential do not come to the market too often,” he adds, advising early viewings.
A quick scoot pootle around nearby parks shows some very elaborate side and rear extensions done over the past several years, and tradepersons’ vans have been kept going during the downturn, on the available visible evidence.
Daingean comes to market with its €900,000 guide after a large modern home on the Ballinlough road went sale agreed over a month ago for €1m, and a new home, yet to be built on the Well Road in a scheme of four by developers Rockforest, has come back to market this month also with an even €1m guide (see separate Greenbanks story).
Location, site size, aspect and good, decent home to work with – what more (apart from €1m-plus) could a family home hunter ask for?
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