Sky’s limit at The Atrium, €595,000
And, they’ve been prized ever since.
Design of many of the houses here is attributed to architect, Charles Beale, says the vendor of The Atrium, who is now selling up after 23 years in occupation. With family reared, it’s time to downsize, she says.
It’s a big house to leave behind, and, thanks to its novel layout, around a central atrium (open to the skies, but otherwise fully enclosed), most of the main rooms have a double aspect for light at several times of the day.
It’s a quirky, yet attractive layout, as a result, yielding 2,700 sq ft of circuitous space (and it feels even more than that), and while it’s a bit on the dated side for today’s buyers, very small tweaks will yield rich rewards.
How about a sliding glass roof for the atrium, for example? Very Grand Designs!
Factor in the advantage of being on a tremendous, half-acre, landscaped and mature site, just the second plot inside Hilton, along the Model Farm Road, and it’s a must-see for home-hunters in Cork City’s western suburbs.
And, with a large green across the way, it’s a safe stomping ground for children to play in and roam around.
Selling agents are Clare O’Sullivan and Catherine McAuliffe of Savills, and they price it at €595,000: the better houses out along this reach have made from €500,000 to €1.5m in recent years; given proximity to colleges and hospitals, and medics are generally among the lead bidders and buyers.
The Atrium appears rock solid, well-conceived and well-delivered, and all windows are double-glazed, with central heating gas-fired, backed up by a gas fire in the family room, and an open fire in the 22’ by 11’ drawing room. Yet, the BER is a lowly enough F (the rating punishes open fires), so new owners will look at improving that. It could do with an insulation upgrade, and, if done on the inside walls, this could prompt a decor investment — or even some room reordering, such as increasing the kitchen, by extending it across the hall and colonising the dining space.
Yet, The Atrium’s a home that probably justifies taking time for changes: for example, its joinery might be dark timbers, but it’s top quality — floors in the main rooms are mahogany, for example.
Ms O’Sullivan rightly describes the accommodation as versatile, and it comes with two, top-floor bedrooms and bathroom, and three ground-level beds, one en-suite with walk-in wardrobes, plus large family bathroom with high-quality, glazed wall tiles. The main living room is 22’ by 12’, with triple aspect, including looking into the planted, 350 sq ft atrium’s palms and ferns: sliding doors accessing this enclosed outdoors space would be the easiest of enhancements.
The gardens, and sheer site size, are a real bonus, with mature chestnut, beech and oak, and bushes of hydrangeas, roses and camellias.
Given the dearth of trading-up stock in the Cork City market in recent months, and the return of buying confidence, sales hopes at The Atrium are high: it’s a top-quality build, just that bit different, and the careful ministrations and ideas of another generation of architects will make for decades more of comfortable family occupation, at this highly-prized address.
VERDICT: There was a lot of clever thought in the original design, so one to work with, rather than against.
