Home, gardens, and parking at Cork city pad

There’s more than first meets the eye at the early 1900s’-built 7 Frankfield View terrace, hidden away high up above Cork’s St Luke’s Cross finds Tommy Barker.

THERE’S a pleasant, neighbourly feel to the terraced run of homes in this suburban Cork’s Frankfield View – almost a misleading address, for a sunny, cul de sac spot well away from Frankfield: it’s high above St Luke’s Cross, facing Gardiner’s Hill, looking down a Victorian-era filled north city valley, into town itself.

Resales here are quite rare. But, having said that, No 7 Frankfield View comes to market with Sherry FitzGerald, just a month or two after a ‘sale agreed’ on the nearby No 4, which topped €260,000 via agents DNG Creedon, so there’s likely to be some underbidders and later arrivals visiting the three-bed No 7.

The hideaway terrace dates to the very early 1900s, just off the Old Youghal Road, between Collins Barracks and Dillons Cross. It’s within a walk of the city centre via several routes, including St Patrick’s Hill, and/or St Luke’s Cross, it’s served by several bus routes too, with the north ring road a short trip away via the Ballyhooley Road.

No 7’s is one of just a handful of houses in the terrace’s c 15-strong run to have off-street parking, for two cars, in a secure, walled space cut into its very long run of private, stepped garden with views.

That off-street parking is a particularly handy feature for the occupants of No 7, stresses estate agent Gillian Mc Donnell of Sherry FitzGerald. She guides the 820 sq ft three-bed mid-terraced home at an attractive-sounding €240,000, within the reach of first-time buyers, traders in, and there may even be investor interest, given its city proximity and ready rentability.

The first of two preliminary open viewings starts today at this brand-new listing, at 11am, followed by another Tuesday afternoon at 4.45pm, and Ms Mc Donnell expects to be busy, given its older world appeal, many original internal features, and good overall condition.

No 7’s bright and cheerful, she says, with “lots of natural light and a feeling of privacy that you only get from a mature property.” In its current ownership since the early 2000s, it was extended to the back a number of years ago, with a galley-style kitchen added on one side at the back, and a bathroom with shower over bath put in on the other side of the enclosed, secure yard, backed by a high old stone wall.

It has high ceilings at both ground and first floor level, original black and red floor tiling in the hall and rear dining room, two open fireplaces with attractive tiling in the front, airy sitting room with bright, painted original floor boards, with the floors in the three overhead bedrooms all varnished original pine boards, whilst the first floor has a convenient WC and whb, to complement the ground floor’s main bathroom.

Several of the original pine doors downstairs have been stripped back, as is the stairs’ handrail and newel posts, and ceiling heights are good too, upstairs.

No 7 has gas central heating, and pvc double glazing throughout, and presents freshly, so any prospective new owners may choose to spend as little, or as much, on personalising it or further updating, and it’s offered with kitchen appliances, and a deal of furniture in situ as well.

For those into gardens, there’s great scope in the long, sloping run of mature, hedge bounded grounds in front of the terrace, beyond the private parking spaces, with a seating/patio area half way down, and ending in a second level section. Examples of what can be done are evident along Frankfield View, ranging from extensively planted grounds, to garden workshops and hobby dens, while a brand new-build home by the start of the terrace has the best of St Luke’s Cross and city views.... possibly even right across the city, towards Frankfield on Cork’s far-flung southerly hills.

VERDICT: convenient city living, made simpler.

Dillons Cross, Cork city

€240,000

Size: 76 sq m (823 sq ft)

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms: 2

BER: E2