This Bishopstown beauty was tastefully reworked by a retired builder

This home is in the very heart of Bishopstown, near schools, colleges and hospitals, as well as shops galore.

Bishopstown, Cork €475,000

Size: 184 sq m (2,000 sq ft)

Bedrooms: 4

Bathrooms: 3

BER: C1

Best Feature: Fully reworked and upgraded, on a large corner site with linked garage, plus large workshop.

A GOOD, no-nonsense make-over has been done to No 12 Bishopscourt Way, as it was done by a builder, for his own private home use when he bought back at the height of the boom... and for more than €675,000.

And, that was before paying stamp duty (at 9% as it was at the time) and only then starting work on upgrades, sun room extension, and a whole host more.

Now, the quietly-set No 12 at the far, inner end of Bishopscourt is back up for sale as a fully-done job, guided at €475,000 by estate agent Andrew Moore, and at that price level he should be busy, given the number of boxes it ticks for trading-up buyers.

One, it’s in the very heart of Bishopstown, near schools, colleges and hospitals, as well as shops galore.

The Wilton Shopping Centre’s 500 metres away, and even closer is an Aldi, there’s a Lidl on the way, and two Dunnes Stores in the hinterland, plus a very regular bus service.

Two, No 12 has a lovely setting and aspect, in beyond the green at Bishopscourt (locals fought a high-profile battle to stop it being built on in the 2000s) and has a full southerly aspect to the back, on an extra-wide site.

Its third strong asset is the quality of the work inside, with a double-depth main living room left of the hall that’s 27’ front to back, and 14’ wide, with high quality new oak floor, redone ceiling cornices, and a fireplace with stone and timber surround, framing a multi-fuel integrated and energy efficient stove.

Fourth box ticked is the rear, added-on fully-glazed sun room, 22’ wide and 10’ deep, and it has access back to the house at two points, either via the double-depth living space, or to a mid-section dining room with direct access to the oak-floored hall.

Off to the side, and behind, is a bright kitchen with relatively simple oak kitchen, and pantry-like store under the stairs, home now to a large hot water tank for the redone plumbing and heating.

Families seriously into their cooking and group dining might want a higher-grade kitchen, or to integrate it a bit more to the dining section.

It’s not just the plumbing that’s been upgraded; so too are the electrics, there’s wiring for sound in several rooms and lots of wiring for computers in a first floor fourth bedroom, as the vendor was very much into his IT equipment as a ‘silver surfer’ and hobbyist.

The work done here when he retired to No 12 was to be a job for life, and for decades and for hobbies and interests, but he passed away last year, and it’s now for sale by his family members.

Very often, the description ‘executor sale’ can refer to a house that’s tired, needs lots of work done and hasn’t really changed with the times.

Well, none of that descriptive shorthand applies here.

It’s spotless, and has been underpinned, reinsulated, rewired, plumbed, and has high quality double glazing; the previously mentioned sun room’s an absolute hot spot, and overlooks the extra-wide and very private rear garden and patio, which stretch the full width of the house, and also spans the width of the attached garage and an adjoining workshop.

Both these eminently practical workspaces (about 500 additional square feet between them) are reached off the house’s rear hall and utility section, and the garage has a polycarbonate roof, roller door access to the front drive, and quality double doors to the back garden.

It would take little or nothing to adapt to a bright play room or gym, with garden access.

Internally and throughout, No 12’s in spotless order as it stands, ready to move into, with four double bedrooms.

Built in 1970, by the well-regarded Denis J McCarthy, it has the solid feel of his builds and the era, with wide hall, mahogany hand rails on the stairs where smooth new steps and risers have been put in.

Upstairs, off a similar wood floored landing are four carpeted, double bedrooms, and a tiled family bathroom.

None of the bedrooms is en suite, though several are big enough to accommodate one if new owners wished, and there’s pull-down steps access to a floored and powered attic, with Veluxes, for storage.

VERDICT: Not flashy, but well founded: it’s a good ’un.