Photographer's €495k North Mall home is pretty as a picture

Part of Cork City's most distinguished streetscape, No 16 North Mall is the ultimate in townhouse living

Sun, 28 May, 2023 - 12:31

Catherine Shanahan

North Mall, Cork City
€495,000
Size	161 sq m (1733 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	3
BER	C3

NORTH Mall is a street that’s easy to love, not just because of its treelined river frontage, but because of its impressive resurgence, thanks largely to ambitious owners, who, in recent years, have brought bedsit-ridden, down-at-heel properties back to their Georgian glory.

While the regeneration was kickstarted decades ago by then city architect Neil Hegarty who bought two adjoining homes at the western end of the terrace, work continued under subsequent private family buyers at Nos 1 and 2.

In the last decade, two mid-terrace homes also found committed owners when Nos 11 and 13, both extensively fire damaged, sold to different bidders at auction in 2015. Both are now shining examples of how to successfully restore a period property. No 13 returned to market in late 2021 and has just gone sale agreed.

There are high hopes too for No 15, a restoration project-in-waiting, which also has just gone “sale agreed”.

In the midst of all this commitment, ambition and rehabilitation is new-to-market No 16 North Mall which requires no work at all.

In fact it was a case of “job done” when the current owners, photographer Claire O’Rourke and partner Andy Linnane bought it 18 years ago.

“Apart from coats of paint and furniture, we did almost nothing. Fortunately for us, the previous owner was a builder and he’d pretty much done the lot,” Claire says.

Claire and Andy did make some improvements over the 18 years including installing new sash windows at the front and putting in a new gas boiler. The energy rating is a C3, surprising for a 200-year-old building, but probably helped by the fact that it’s midterrace and has a relatively small footprint.

The couple also had the foresight – thanks to a handy brother - to install a large deck off the second floor (above a large bathroom, which together with the kitchen, are a newer part of the house) and it’s an ideal suntrap/space to sit out in a house that does have a small courtyard off the ground floor, but not a garden.

The ground floor is where the kitchen diner is too, with its lovely feature brick walls, Belfast sink and church-style window overlooking the rear yard.

A lounge to the front of the house faces the river and it’s here that Claire ran a photographic study.

North Mall is in a part of town zoned for live/work units, she says, which might appeal to someone looking to live in the city and work from home.

The four bedrooms at 161 sq m No 16 are spread across the top two floors, with an ensuite on each.

There’s a family bathroom too on the middle floor, with the terrace overhead.

As befits someone skilled in visual cues, No 16 is probably the most eye-catching home on North Mall, known to the couple’s friends as The Blue House, as it’s painted Killala Bay Blue.

Unlike its neighbours, its river view isn’t screened by a tree. Claire says they had a sitting room – previously a bedroom, now a bedroom once more - on the first floor to make the most of the views, due south over the River Lee’s north channel.

With a couple of bedrooms to spare, they were also able to make use of the rent-a-room scheme which permits income of up to €14,000 a year tax-free.

While Claire and Andy are relocating to beautiful West Clare, they will miss the lovely historic neighbourhood, which has ties to a medieval Franciscan friary, commemorated in the name of the local watering hole/craft beer brewery, the Franciscan Well. They will miss the riverside walk to Fitzgerald’s Park and the ease of access to the city.

Suzanne Tyrrell of Cohalan Downing is handling the sale of No 16 and she brings it to market with an AMV of €495,000.

“Not many houses of its age are in such turnkey condition,” Ms Tyrrell says, adding that there is “a lovely feel and flow to it”. She points also to its city convenience, across the river from UCC and the Mercy University Hospital.

Lee swim passes under the pedestrian bridge at North Mall Picture: Larry Cummins

VERDICT: Gorgeous Georgian home in arguably the city’s most striking terrace. Could work well for a family with children of secondary school age or college students. Plenty scope for leisure on the nearby Mardyke/Fitzgerald’s Park. Also ideal for living/working from home.