Plenty of bang for your buck at Ballincollig gunpowder mill site

• Price: €399,000
• Size: 160 sq m/1,722sq ft Bedrooms: 4
• Bathrooms: 4
• BER: B3

Rich history in its arsenal, Leslies Arch offers up No 34, a cut above the rest, one to fire imagination, reports Catherine Shanahan

LESLIES Arch has a little bit of history in its arsenal — it takes its name from Charles Henry Leslie, the Corkman who set up Ballincollig’s famous gunpowder mills.

It’s a nice nod to the past, in what is now a modern urban landscape where the demand for homes is high, according to Norma Healy of Sherry FitzGerald.

Ms Healy is the selling agent for No 34 Leslies Arch which she describes as “a cut above the rest”.

“It’s a very stylish home, in show-house condition. It’s only had one owner since it was built in the mid-noughties and a lot of money, time and effort went into upgrading it.

“Recent upgrades include a high-quality kitchen with quartz countertops and an en suite refurbished with a three-piece rain shower suite with stunning tiling,” Ms Healy adds.

Every element of this three-storey home was well thought out she says, and the upshot is “a perfect combination of style and practicality”.

An eye-catching crimson splashback in the kitchen picks up a matching light fitting, a lovely contrast to white kitchen units in the open-plan kitchen/living/dining area, from where French doors lead onto a patio, beyond which lies a no-maintenance artificial grass area.

Ms Healy says the kitchen was re-modelled from the original layout to maximise the worktop and storage space.

A pantry off the kitchen provides extra storage space and there’s also a utility room to the rear of the house, with the same high-quality fittings as the kitchen. The utility has an additional sink, is plumbed for a washing machine and has rear access to a south-facing garden.

The downstairs WC brings the overall bathroom count to four, with two ensuites and a family bathroom upstairs.

An unusual feature of the house is the location of its main living area on the first floor. It spans the width of the house and is enhanced by a bay window and a juliette balcony.

A double bedroom, ensuite, also occupies this floor, while three further bedrooms and a family bathroom fill the second floor.

Ms Healy says it will appeal to a range of buyers, from first-timers, to those looking for a low maintenance trade-down.

“It caters for all the different markets and it’s a very spacious house for the price.

“There aren’t many developments where you have a regional park on one side and the hustle and bustle of a town on the other,” she says.

Ms Healy says the current owners are relocating but intend to stay local.

“If the buyer wants convenience then this is the house for them,” she says.

No 34 is fully alarmed; has a hi-tec Nest Heating system and parking is on-street.

A browse of the Property Price Register shows similar-sized No 27 Leslies Arch sold for €360,000 in the run up to Christmas while No 4 sold for €395,000 last October.

No 35, the neighbour of the current offering, went for €350,000 a year ago.

Ms Healy says No 34 has “all the ingredients for the perfect family home” “ This wonderful property is sure to tick all the boxes and is only a stone’s throw to the host of services and amenities of Ballincollig.” The satellite town now has the added advantage of a 24 hour bus service.

VERDICT: A dynamite buy