House of the Week: Make No 1 the Orchard the apple of your eye

Monkstown harbour-scanning home is small, but perfectly formed, and very well located.

Monkstown, Cork Harbour

€265,000

Size: 65 sq m (709 sq ft)

Bedrooms: 2

Bathrooms: 2

BER: C3

Best feature: well-set

Coming in close to the average house price across Cork city and county, at €265,000, is No 1 The Orchard: what it lacks in size, at just about 700 sq ft, it more than makes up for in views, and in interior finish and feel.

Set by a multi-road wedge site at Fairy Hill above Monkstown in Cork harbour, it has a wide sweep of the inner harbour and of the Lee, filtered through the sentinel outpost of the period Pugin and Ashlin architects-designed 1860s Sacred Heart Monkstown parish church.

The Orchard comprises six terraced townhouses in a row by its entrance, with about 20 more set further in past the sandstone church, all built around in 2003, to a design by architect Stephen Hyde.

Sort of the calling card to The Orchard, No 1’s set where Fairy Hill meets ‘old’ Monkstown addresses such as Chapel Hill, Gordon Villas, Sydenham Terrace and Diamond Hill. And, apart from its engaging harbour vista, it also keeps a protective eye out on the entrance to local national school, Scoil Barra Naofa.

No 1’s fresh to market with auctioneers Ann O’Mahony and Yvonne Corcoran of Sherry FitzGerald, and as they set up the first open viewings they say they expect interest from both the first time buyer segment and from traders-down. Effectively the size of a two-bed apartment, it should suite singles, and busy professional couples also, perhaps, as it’s going to be an easy home to maintain, inside and outside.

Ms O’Mahony says it is a

a gorgeous two-bedroomed seaside property, in a scenically-set development, with some of the best unspoilt views of the harbour

and she anticipates positive viewer vibes.

Sort of Victorian lodge in style, as envisaged by the Hyde Partnership and built by Murnane & O’Shea, it has a white render and brick trim and banding on its exterior, with feature terracotta tiles hung at the front gable’s apex, along with a gabled porch roof with finial. Also distinctive are the curved or arched first floor windows in the en suite master bedroom, and it’s crowned then with a confection ornate fascia boards, in pvc.

The site’s wedge gives No 1 a rounded front lawn, with off-street parking, while to the back is an enclosed patio, with gated side entrance, to the triangular rear plot which also fits in a gravelled tapering section, plus timber shed. The back boundary wall is a concreted retaining wall topped with blockwork, as the road rises up behind along Fairy Hill toward Scotsman Road.

Right now, while there is reassurance in the so-solid nature of this enclosure, the harshness of the concrete and block could do with softening by some judicious planting and even trellises: tackling this could further transform this private outdoor space, make it more verdant, and yet be low maintenance into the future.

In any case, it’s about the only thing the next owner(s) might like to do, as there’s little or nothing to alter inside.

The 709 sq ft home has an open-plan living/dining kitchen, with glossy dark wood floor, and while heating is via bulk Calor gas tank, there’s also an open fire for ‘real home’ comforts in winter evenings.

The triple aspect living space is to the front, behind is the dining section with white painted kitchen units sort off in a do-leg off, and partly screened behind staircase which runs through the open space – there’s no hall. Overhead are two bedrooms, one of them en suite with a shower, and this room’s to the front with twin tilt and turn windows topped with curved frames. The main bathroom, serving both guests and bedroom No 2, has a bath with shower over.

The Price Register records four resales at Fairy Hill’s The Orchard since 2010, with No 17 making €275,000 in 2018. No 12 sold this year, for €220,000; the cheapest was No 17 back in the doldrums of 2010 at €212,000, while No1’s next door neighbour, No 2, changed hands in 2013 for €220,000.

VERDICT: Monkstown has a very extensive range of house styles, sizes and build periods, ranging from very modest terraces to elaborate and ornate Victorians (one such at the Shrubberies, came to market in late November guiding €600,000, as well as quite a few hideways in the wooded demesne).

An ‘average’ priced townhouse like No 1 the Orchard might attract a ‘newbie’ to Monkstown’s harbour community, or as happily accommodate a life-long resident looking for an easy-keep home with the splendours of Cork harbour it its sights.