Trading Up: St Clare’s Avenue, Cork City, €295,000

Billed as ripe for doing up is the rather tired, early 1900s semi-detached home St Clare’s House, on St Clare’s Avenue, near Cork’s UCC, Bon Secours and the Brookfield complex, all within a walk of the city centre.

The west-facing house, with 180’ long back garden plus front garden, with off-street parking and a fifth dormer bedroom up at attic level is quite solid, with many internal original features of the c1920s, and is guided at €295,000 by selling agent Jackie Cohalan of Cohalan Downing auctioneers, who says it’s going to need doing up.

She has just sold a fully redone, exceptionally fine home here, No 7 with over 2,000 sq ft which made over €500,00, and that might give lots of ideas to whoever buys St Clare’s House: quite a few other homes along this student-y stretch between College Road and Magazine Road have also had various styles of extensions grafted on.

At one stage, a single storey kitchen annexe was added here, but essentaily whoever buys will be starting all over again. Rooms currently include two ground floor receptions, kitchen and shower room, and four first floor bedrooms plus bathroom, and top floor fifth bedroom.

Much of the joinery is original, and there’s attractive timber panel details around the bay windows, on two floors.

VERDICT: Huge scope