House Of The Week: A treat in Turners Cross for €390,000

Liz O'Donovan brought a stylish eye to bear on this city estate home

Turners Cross, Cork City
€390,000
Size	205 sq m (2206 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	4
BER	B2

WITH her own unique style and a healthy design sense, Liz O’Donovan transformed a humdrum 1950s house into a sparkling homestead.

What at its essence was a compact, run-of-the-mill city estate house is now a stonkingly modern dwelling, flooded with natural light and with enough space in the main living area to turn cartwheels.

“When I bought the house four years ago, I did a top to bottom on it,” Ms O’Donovan says, and for sure there’s no obvious room for improvement.

She more or less doubled the size of Glenarm, 38 Slieve Mish Park, extending sideways and at the rear, adding a bedroom and ensuite at the side of the house downstairs, and overhead, a master bedroom, with ensuite and walk-in wardrobe.

Further extending at the rear saw the demise of a small back kitchen and the birth of a fabulous L-shape development, housing not just an impressively finished kitchen, but also a dining area, slotting nicely into one side of the L and surrounded by glazing to let the light flood in and let diners look over a nicely-laid patio and sandstone gravel area, dotted with planters, with, as a centrepiece, a backlit water feature.

“This part of the house is fabulous in the morning,” Ms O’Donovan says. "I come down some mornings and I think the light is on. And the birdsong is fantastic."

She’s made good use of the patio for outdoor entertaining.

There are sliding doors from the indoor dining area to the rear patio and a further set of sliding doors from the main living area. The back garden is not overlooked, and is screened by low-maintenance PVC trellis fencing.

Back indoors, Ms O’Donovan (of O’Donovan’s Off Licence) spared no expense on kitchen fittings with Express Kitchens doing the honours, installing a solid walnut worktop and taupe kitchen cupboard doors. There’s a gorgeous burgundy Stanley range (both electric and gas) and a Belfast sink and a fabulous ‘pantry’ unit. Functional items such as a dishwasher and washing machine are housed in a utility room which has plenty of room also for another fridge freezer, a spare cooker, the back boiler, and a wine chiller.

“There’s stacks of storage here, and you don’t have to listen to any of the machines going,” Ms O’Donovan says.

The one remaining room in this part of the house, tucked away under the stairs, is a guest WC.

At the top of the carpeted stairs (all the carpets are Carrigaline Carpets) is another lovely window — all the glazing is Munster Joinery — and off the landing there are three double bedrooms and a main bathroom. The aforementioned master bedroom is a treat, with its ensuite and walk-in wardrobe. The other two upstairs bedrooms have integrated sliderobes.

So why is Ms O’Donovan leaving her pet project behind, especially as she had the foresight to plan ahead for a time when her mother might join them at Glenarm, by putting in that downstairs ensuite bedroom?

They are moving to Rochestown she says, moving in with her mother, and besides, she has an appetite for another refurb project, having run out of road at Glenarm.

Selling agent Jeremy Murphy — who coincidentally sold her the house in 2016 (for €275,000 according to the Property Price Register) — says No 38 is a “deceptively spacious, beautifully extended semi-detached property”.

“We have been very busy with inquiries and it will definitely appeal to trader-uppers given it occupies such a convenient location in a settled park,” Mr Murphy says.

For sure, the area is well settled and well served for that matter. A cul de sac estate off the Curragh/Kinsale Road, Slieve Mish has a wealth of retail nearby including supermarkets and a retail park.

It’s within a walk of the city centre and without shouting distance of both Cork City FC’s home grounds and Musgrave Park rugby stadium.

There’s plenty of parking out front.

VERDICT: A bright, stylish, well-configured home in a great location.