WATCH: House of the week: Rochestown, Co Cork €610,000
Coming up on ten years old, the spacious family home at 8 Monfield, in Cork’s Garryduff, appears to have been barely lived in: that’s because the young family who bought it back in 2007 ended up moving a short while after to Galway for a few years for work, and from the Irish west next to the Far East for the past four years, so they only stayed here on return on family holidays, and for Christmas.
They opted not to rent, as they really wanted to keep the family feel, and while they’ve been away, obliging extended family members have kept it up to spec, dropping by to water plants and keep it all in trim.
So, nine years old, finished to a high degree from the get-go, always minded, and recently upgraded with a circular sunken garden patio done by a master mason in granite (plus new internal glazed doors only put in last Christmas,) No 8 shouts ‘owner-occupier’ all day long... even if the tone is hushed, and the owner-occupiers in question actually hadn’t that many days and years here at all.
After happy years away, the family’s joining the growing number of Irish diaspora emigrants making their way back to Irish shores.
They’ve found another hoped-for home purchase in the greater Cork area for when they come back full-time.
Hence No 8 Monfield’s arrival for sale with agent Jeremy Murphy, who started viewings at the detached 1,960 sq ft four-bed home this day last week.
The sun shone, and the house showed to perfection inside and out, he says.
The novelty of the ground floor’s layout was a feature, with its central staircase effectively surrounded by linked reception rooms and a kitchen, each linked to the other via internal double doors, brand new and unsullied by fingerprints or shoe scuffs.
There’s a great airy flow to it all — a big, bright, tiled hall, and expensively-floored main rooms in dark timbers with a fireplace in the principal, 25’ by 14’ living room, with limestone fireplace and a bay window to the front.
Off it is a second lounge/family room, or dining room, or play room. Next up is the kitchen, done by Keatings, with painted units and a curve in the granite worktop as a feature by the hob, while the island is also topped with granite.
Garden access is to the side, with French doors out from the front reception to a side passage, and from the rear dining section.
So, unless you’re peeping out from the quite small window by the kitchen, the surprise is that you really don’t get to enjoy the view of the feature, low-lit, circular garden patio, until you actually get outdoors.
No 8’s arrival to market is possibly the first resale here since the 23 houses were built at Garryduff, by McInerneys.
Design was by Dennehy and Dennehy Architects, who mixed nine detacheds with a smaller number of semis, and two short rows of townhouses.
It’s about as niche as it gets, and No 8 is one of the largest detached types, the A1, with two of its four bedrooms en suite, and there are long, distant views from the front reception and the master bedroom towards the woods around Garryduff, over Monfield’s internal green space.
Separate to the main flow of rooms is a utility (with garden access) and a guest loo, and then overhead are four double bedrooms, several with part-sloping ceilings giving character.
The master bedroom has a good en-suite bathroom and, separately, a walk-in robe with sliding mirrored door for access, a nice hotel-suite type touch.
You’d nearly expect to find a trouser press and a kettle and complimentary tea bags in here too.
Despite living here only remotely, the owners admit they kept spending and keeping it up to date, and that’s reflected in above-standard decor touches and finishes.
In terms of location, it’s close to the new national school by Foxwood, is next to Garryduff sports centre and playing fields, with Coillte woodland walks too, while there are car commuting options via Clarkes Hill, Coach Hill and Maryborough Hill.
: the Garryduff area has some large, extremely popular developments for families trading up and on the move, and niche Monfield, with just two dozen or so homes appears exceptionally family-friendly.
