House of the Week: Not all semis are equal in Clonakilty
No, not all semis are equal — and Nos 1 and 2 Sunlea in Clonakilty prove that point.
Side by side, and almost equally sized, they are different in many other respects, inside and out, and in terms of the tally of bedrooms too.
One’s a three-bed, the other’s a four-bed. And while both are to be sold, one is in walk-in condition, with a linked-up ground floor that’s 52’ long, front to back through the high-end kitchen — while the other one is back awaiting a kitchen.
Nos 1 & 2 Sunlea were built by local firm Hillback, who also did Clonakilty’s Waterfront development, and the Glebe House Gardens on Emmet Square, and the Sandquay mill conversion, among many award-winning projects in and around Clon.
Hillback never did ‘boring.’ So, when it came to putting a pair of semi-ds on a site at the foot of the Ferhnill Road in the town, it was no surprise when it came out a bit different, and then got even more intriguing. Although both are large, at 1,750 sq ft and about 1,820 sq ft, the facades are different, with individual design by architect Geraldine Coughlan. No 1’s a three-bed, and No 4’s a four-bed.
Built in 2006, No 1 Sunlea was the first to sell, and was bought by a young and increasingly active family, so much so that when No 2 later came up for sale, they bought that too. They joined them up internally, at ground and first floor levels, colonising it all, with games rooms and play rooms, gym and more, and more bedrooms than they really needed, but great for childrens’ sleepovers.
Now, they are trading to a house on the edge of Clonakilty with land and stables, and have already made the move out: the walls at Sunlea that had come down have gone back up, the houses are separated out individually once more, and No 1 is the first out of the traps for sale.
Estate agent Martin Kelleher describes No 1 as an exquisite, high-end semi-detached townhouse of impressive proportions. Which indeed it is, at 1,750 sq ft, and as “a light-filled residence with sheer quality throughout.”
It’s west facing, with lots of south-aspected glazing to the side, and a wide and deep hall.
There’s a now joined-up kitchen/living/dining room, all effectively one open-plan area with a top-quality double aspect kitchen in the middle, which has painted units topped with granite.
There’s also an open fireplace at the living end, which is bright with dual aspect, and has access to a two-level decked back garden, plus guest WC and under-stair storage.
Upstairs is more traditional, with three carpeted double bedrooms, and one has a double aspect and a large en-suite. There is a main family bathroom, plus enough space on the landing for a reading spot by a tall west-facing window.
No 1 has zoned central heating, oil fired, with digital room thermostats and rads with thermostatic valves. The windows are all double glazed and there’s high-speed broadband and an alarm fitted. The BER is a C1, while No 2 next door gets a slightly better B3 BER, possibly due to having more compartmentalised rooms.
Nos 1 & 2 Sunlea share an electric access gate, with parking for two cars on either side. Local auctioneer Martin Kelleher starts viewings first at No 1 next week, and says it’s perfect as a well-built, extremely comfortable, and easily- maintained property for a trader down, or as a relocater/second home in a great West Cork coastal and tourism town.
It’s within a few minutes’ walk of a Dunnes in one direction, and the town’s main street in the other, with the new Gaelscoil almost on its doorstep.
Guide price on the spacious and spotless No 1 is €325,000. No price is fixed yet for the four-bed (and marginally larger) No 2, until a kitchen is reinstalled and it too is up for viewings.
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