Ball-hopper at Cork's €270k home by 'The Cross'

Fair wind behind the sale and sails of Lucky No 7, Beaufort Park at Turners Cross family home

Fri, 06 Aug, 2021 - 16:00

Tommy Barker reports Pictures Eddie O'Hare

Turners Cross, Cork City
€269,500
Size	97 sq m (1,035 sq ft)
Bedrooms	2/3
Bathrooms	1
BER	E1

IT’S probably unwitting, but the family about to leave 7 Beaufort Park will know a lot more about wind when they move from this well-sited, and sheltered Cork suburban home — they are moving to East Cork to be beside the sea for family rearing fun and games, with work-from-home capabilities fully enabled post-pandemic.

Front view of 7, Beaufort Park, Turner's Cross Picture: Eddie O'Hare

Did their home address name, Beaufort Park, come from the mid-Kerry town and parish of that name?

Or, did it come from Navan-born Francis Beaufort, a British navy man, scientist and hydrographer, who in the early 1800s outlined the empirical Beaufort Wind Force Scale used by sailors, and weather-watchers, ever since?

They’re actually not sure of the origin of the name Beaufort Park, just off Curragh Road in Cork’s Turner’s Cross, within a (Beaufort) Force 7 or gale 8 bellow of the Rebel Army’s Cork City FC pitch, or for more quiet and becalmed reflections, the nearby landmark modernist Christ the King Church.

No 7 Beaufort Park will in any case make ripples on the late summer market, listed with estate agent Timothy Sullivan for owners who’ve had it since 2004.

Vendors converted the attic and put in gleaming stair access in this 1,035 sq ft home

“It dates to the early 1950s, built by a local builder, but we don’t have his name though: however, it does have the this has ‘Kerry-man-leaving-mark-on-Cork all over it!” his departing vendors (with kayaks lined up the back garden for East Cork coastal adventures) quip.

They’ve been gently ‘improving owners’ to this semi-detached bungalow (not a personal judgement, the expression refers to the property!) over the years, and the changes they’ve made include converting the attic to a 15’ by 13’ home-office/studio/optional third bedroom with guest sofa/bed, accessed by a polished hardwood stairs, and opening up an L-shaped kitchen/dining room at the back, a magnet for people at parties.

"You will always find them in the kitchen at parties..."

Other rooms include two ground floor bedrooms, bathroom with shower, a sitting room with flue in situ, and this room could also be a bedroom if new owners so wish, Mr Sullivan suggests, noting the property “is deceptive from the exterior.”

As he launches the tidy order 97 sq m family-owned home with a very accessible AMV of €269,500, he reckons next owners could be first-time buyers, traders-down, or traders-in…maybe even someone who’s had enough of the isolation and wilds of the country and the winds of the coasts, seeking urban convenience?

Beaufort Park’s within a walk of the city centre, and a very regular bus route, has schools, retail parks, shops (including an Aldi) and sports facilities close-by, with a backwater, settled, neighbourly air.

Reggie-mental: garden is private and quiet, save for when Cork City FC is on the ball

Apart from the fun of occasional match days at Cork City FC stadium — ‘The Cross’ — the overall feeling at Beaufort Park is of being out in the country, No 7’s occupants appreciate.

High ball: Cork City's Cian Murphy leaps for the Elysian as he celebrates his first goal against Bray Wanderers during the July 2021 SSE Airtricity first division game at Turners Cross

There’s off-street parking, with a printed concrete drive carrying over to a screened side passage and rear sunny patio, garden shed and store, with enclosed hedging boundaries, bedded down by previous owners, with a perfect sun-trap south-west aspect to the back garden.

The Price Register shows the sale of No 4 Beaufort Park, sold during Covid-19 times for €255,000.

Internal comfort factors at No 7 include double glazing and gas central heating, and retained features include picture rails, timber floors and the red-tiled hall floor.