JFK did a drive-by at this Victorian-era Cork home now  on sale for €300K

Five months before John F Kennedy's 1963 assassination, he was on an Irish visit and his motorcade got a welcome while driving by St Luke's Cork City home at 1 Pinafore Villas

1 Pinafore Villas offered great views of JFK's motorcade as it moved through Cork city in June 1963. He was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, November the same year.

St Luke’s Cork
€300,000
Size	75 sq m (807 sq ft)
Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	1
BER	D2

An old Victorian house like 1 Pinafore Villas in St Luke’s has the capacity to throw up the kind of surprises that modern properties simply can’t match.

1 Pinafore Villas

The couple who bought and renovated it in 2017 were pleased as punch to come across a photo from 1963 showing the occupants of their end of terrace home cheering from a first-floor window while President John F Kennedy’s and his entourage passed by.

Almost 60 years ago, US President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jacqueline were in this Dallas, Texas motorcade moments before the president was fatally shot. Texas Gov. John Connally and Mrs. Connally are in the front seat of the limousine.

While the handsome redbrick house was being restored the owners found old letters and newspapers behind the wallpaper and a small stash of (now valueless) money hidden under the floorboards – leaving them to wonder how this came to be left behind.

Less pleasurable surprises included the collapse of an interior wall when they started work. But they already knew from viewing the house that it was going to need major repair. “The floorboards were rotten and some walls were crumbling,” reveals the lady of the house.

A love of old houses and a liking for the idea of living in a place with the kind of community spirit you find in St Luke’s led to the purchase. Dating from the 1870s the terrace on Military Road had been built for the families of soldiers and was named for the Gilbert and Sullivan operetta HMS Pinafore which opened in 1878.

Digging into its history the owner discovered that it was designed by the same architect responsible for the nearby Ambassador Hotel  (now rechristened The Address) - an elegant redbrick structure that was once a military infirmary.

She was quite surprised to find out that her house ( which, with its modern extension, has 807 sq ft of living space) was in the early 1900s home to a family of seven. Transforming the property into the attractive two-bed family home it is now (with its extended modern kitchen, upgraded D2 BER rating and some reinstated period features) took a year.

“We project managed it ourselves,” reveals the owner, explaining that work included insulation, restoring some old features and also eliminating all traces of the 1970s décor.

Replacing a crumbling extension at the rear with a new one, they also took out the aluminium windows and fitted new sash double glazed ones. “The front hall was damp – so we tanked it – which meant putting in a waterproof membrane,” explains the owner.

When viewers see the picture and dado rails in the high ceilinged hallway they might imagine they have survived since the 1870s but they haven’t. “Most of the rails were taken out in the 1970s but we put in new ones and also put down period style tiles.’’

The cast iron fireplace in the front sitting room is one of the few original features to survive. The owners restored it, put in a stove, and fitted alcove units alongside it before decorating the room pale grey.

The space at the rear has been reconfigured into a spacious kitchen diner. The kitchen at one side has stylish pale grey contemporary units, integrated appliances and some exposed stonework while the modern extension at the other side has a sloping roof with roof lights and sliding patio doors.

Old features include a stain-glass door that was once at the front of the house but now opens from the hallway into the kitchen. The most striking modern feature in this space is an archway framed by red steel beams leading from the kitchen to the dining area.

Upstairs the owners turned one of the bedrooms into a bathroom with a shower cubicle, attractive blue wainscoting and a mix of contemporary and period style features. The larger bedroom is now pretty in pink with a striped roman blind which the smaller one has become a nursery. 

The newest family addition is the reason for relocation although the owner says she is loath to leave the house and St Luke’s. Because the extension used up most of the garden area at the rear the owners focused their attention on making the area at the front into a space for sitting out. 

Using painted decking to raise the height of the walls, they have turned it into a private patio garden while keeping and repainting the original railings which ( unlike the house) are listed for preservation.

Quoting a guide of €300,000 Terry Hayes of Barry Auctioneers says that viewers will find it very hard to find another small property in the St Luke’s area that’s as well renovated as this one.

Noting that it’s in a hugely popular residential area which is within walking distance of the city centre ( 1.1 km) and has “ great schools, local artisan shops, and legendary pubs”, Mr. Hayes expects to be inundated with viewing requests.

VERDICT: Downsizers and young couples will love it.