Doon-upper opportunity on Cork’s Rochestown Road

Unlived in for a decade this ‘Edwardian’ project deserves a Renaissance, says Tommy Barker.

Fri, 14 Sep, 2018 - 15:47

Unlived in for a decade this ‘Edwardian’ project deserves a Renaissance, says Tommy Barker.

Blink, and you’d miss it. What with all the traffic volumes on Cork’s Rochestown Road, motorists are now pretty much inclined to focus their gaze on the road ahead.

So, they’ve been missing Doonanna, most likely, and missing it and its next-door neighbour, for decades.

Dating to the early decades of the 1900s, Doonanna is a distinctive-looking semi-detached house, of Edwardian character and stout build, on a lovely site of 0.3 of an acre, unexpectedly large grounds-wise, by the foot of Clarke’s Hill.

But, it has been unlived in for a decade, so not only does it need work inside and outside, it really could do with its access improved. It’s a project, but not an insurmountable one, with dividends at the end (perhaps even a further house site?) if luck and goodwill goes the right way for its recovery.

It so deserves a renaissance, as it has some lovely internal features, originality and quality as well as that hard to define property hook, ‘character.

It appears to have survived its ‘fallow period’ of vacancy extremely well, all things considered, with broad and doubled sash windows, a terrazzo floored hall, double aspect main livng room, well-crafted staircase and some very decent-sized rooms, plus outbuildings.

And it has all of those attributes, plus a bright, warm southerly aspect to the back, and even water views over the Mahon estuary from the front garden and rooms.

Right now, access to Doonanna and to its neighbouring ‘other half’ (which is occupied) is up garden steps from a footpath on the Rochestown Road, and as it belatedly comes to market after its elderly owners died, Doonanna has several advantages for the right buyer.

One, is the site size, it’s far larger than what goes with the other semi-d twin, wrapping around the back of its grounds, and that variety is a slight surprise, given its build history. The duo was built for two sisters, by a family who owned a city pub.

The other is the marginal but very real advantage of a disused garage by the path, set into its higher-up gardens, but, to be honest, getting in and out of this garage/space along this Rochestown Road stretch so close to Clarke’s Hill is a challenge.

A wider opening, set back into excavated ground, might be the answer, subject to local authority approval, and anything would be safer than trying to negotiate the existing garage, and parking on the road’s an absolute no-no.

Instead, an adjacent cul de sac called The Close just to the east on the Rochestown village side is the facilitator for Doonanna, a elbow-shaped short road, serving about 10 different detached houses. It has on-street parking outside the individual homes there, and holds a possible ace up its sleeve.

The previous occupants of Doonanna (now deceased) had a kindly-provided gate for access at the very far end of their back garden from deep within The Close. But, it’s not a formal right of way: if it were, everything would or could fall into place.

So, that all helps explains the price guide on Doonanna, seemingly modest for a 1,250 sq ft house with views, on a third of an acre site on Cork’s Rochestown Road. Agent Ann O’Mahony of Sherry FitzGerald guides at €320,000, as it’s not for the faint-hearted or for those who’ll be dependent on a bank for a FTB-sized mortgage, for starters.

Renovations/extensions/alterations will be facilitated for the builders if/when the roadside access is addressed. Should rear access be negotiated/resolved, that also helps for any build crew, and there’s more than enough site if a right or way is found for a further dwelling.

Buying pool

This all narrows down the buyer pool, and among those who may have an interest could be neighbouring property owners, or a bidder may seek to buy Doonanna and maybe another property, either for investment/speculative interest or for future family needs?

Or, a viewer might just fall for the house, see its potential, jump in, and hope for the best.

After all, it hasn’t gone anywhere fast recently, and can be made habitable for the short to medium term, while aiming for other jig-saw pieces to fall into place.

VERDICT: A not intractable puzzle.