New home, mature park - downsizers and first timer buyers will love it
Back garden of 3A Castlegreine Park, Boreenmanna Road
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Boreenmanna Road, Cork City |
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€385,000 |
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Size |
81 sq m (872 sq ft) |
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Bedrooms |
2 |
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Bathrooms |
2 |
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BER |
B2 |
THE baby of the estate, No 3A Castlegreine Park is a relative newbie in this off-Boreenmanna Road home, where the rest of the houses, are, in the main, of a 1950s vintage.
The builders did a pretty good job of constructing it in the likeness of its older neighbours in the park in 2010, and the benefits of youth are reflected in its B2 energy rating.
The site No 3A is on was once part of neighbouring No 3’s fairly large garden, until the owners of that house decided to split the site and build another home.
When the current owners bought it in 2016 for €235,513, it was done to a builder’s finish — which means it was essentially bare walls.
“We fitted the whole thing out ourselves,” the owner says. In went the kitchen, bathrooms, and sitting room stove and everything in between. They commissioned the heating system, the electrical system and the plumbing.
Huge effort was made externally too. Printed concrete was poured to the rear and bare walls covered with timber cladding. Wall lights and plants were added and the upshot is a very stylish outdoor space which the owner says is “like an extension of the kitchen” as French doors lead out to it from the kitchen area.
“The work we did really transformed the view,” the owner says.
“It was essentially a concrete box and it’s like a little slice of Heaven now.” The actual kitchen is very sleek too. A carpenter came from Wexford to fit it — he’d impressed with his work for relations of the owners.
The units are a striking navy and the carpenter is behind an eye-catching open-slat room divider too which separates the open-plan kitchen diner from the front sitting room.
“We had the whole area open plan initially, but I thought it would be nice to create separate spaces. I wanted to make sure the light still came through, so the carpenter came up with the idea of the curved wooden partition,” the owner says.
They put “the best of everything” into the house, she adds, from bathroom fittings to light fittings.
“It’s all finished to a very high standard. I put everything into. It was a real labour of love, lots of blood, sweat, and tears, and it means a lot to me,” she adds.
Despite the level of investment, they’re moving now as her husband is a Limerick man and there’s always been a plan for them to return to his native county. With two bedrooms at No 3A, and a one-year-old baby, they want more space for the family..
The owner feels the house will appeal in particular to downsizers as it’s in turnkey order and with low-maintenance outdoor areas (they poured printed concrete out front too and there’s off-street parking for two cars).
“I think an older couple downsizing would love it. It’s so low maintenance and so convenient to everything. I can get into the city centre by foot in eight minutes.
“And the area itself is really nice and the neighbours are great,” she says.
She believes buyers will be very impressed too with the energy rating as most other homes in the Ballinlough neighbourhood that are currently for sale are unlikely to match it.
Having done some online research, the owner believes that just two Ballinlough properties out of 29 on the market have a B2 rating.
Stuart O’Grady of Sherry FitzGerald is guiding 3A at €385,000 and he believes it will appeal to first-time buyers, as well as downsizers.
Viewings are starting next week and he’s expecting to be busy, with a number of Dublin-based couples, who are Cork natives and familiar with the area, booked in to have a look.
He points out that the attic at 81 sq m No 3A is converted “into a usable space” which may appeal to those looking to work from home.
: Perfect starter or downsizer. Great location.
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