It might look tiny, but this colourful €190,000 first time buyer home packs a punch inside
4 Main Street, Castlemartyr
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Castlemartyr, East Cork |
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€190,000 |
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Size |
91 sq m (979 sq ft) |
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Bedrooms |
2 |
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Bathrooms |
1 |
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BER |
D2 |
HOUSE hunters looking to bed down in a town whose star is on the rise should consider heading East, to Castlemartyr, where a star has already been doled out – to Terre, the newest Michelin kid on the block, at the 5-star Castlemartyr Resort.
The entrance to the resort, where €8m has been invested in the past year, is literally across the road from the house featured here and the home owners made good use of its magnificent parklands during the recent pandemic.
The woman of the house at No 4 Main Street also avails of a gym membership (anyone can join) and she and her son have made good use of the resort’s swimming pool.
The fact that she wound up living in Castlemartyr was largely down to her mother who spotted that No 4 was for sale during a visit to Ireland from her native Cornwall in the UK.
“The story of my move to Castlemartyr started off sadly as myself and my husband had split up in 2014. I was a single mother with a young son and I needed to find the cheapest house in Ireland,” the owner says.
“My mother was in Ireland at the time and spotted the listing for No 4. I dismissed it initially, thinking there was no way I would live on Main Street with a young child.”
However she fell for the house after her mum arranged a visit.
“I was standing on Main Street thinking ‘this looks tiny’, but when we went in, we could see the house goes back forever. I just fell in love with it immediately,” the owner says.
She moved in with her five-year-old in 2015 and unleashed her creative streak, turning No 4 into a very distinctive home with plenty of colourful flourishes.
“Wallpaper is my new hobby, I really feel it adds character and I just like to decorate,” she says.
She saved up to put in a new kitchen which she says “transformed the whole house”.
It’s neatly and smartly done, with a snug corner seating area, a porcelain sink and modern units.
She tackled the attic too, transforming it from storage area into a hip home office, as she has been working from home for the past two years.
A sunroom to the rear of the house, which had also turned into a storage space, was cleared out, given a makeover with some bold wallpaper and returned to use.
Beyond the sunroom, steps were installed to make better use of a maintenance-free raised yard, where a concrete floor was painted turquoise blue “which looks great in summer”, the owner says, adding that its great for dining outside.
Having wrung maximum use out of a modest-size house, she’s moving on now because her life story has taken another turn. Her partner moved in about a year ago and they have outgrown the house, as they are both working from home.
No 4 is one of a number of homes to benefit from recent makeovers on Castlemartyr's Main Street, where you will also find the terrific Village Greengrocer foodhall, a post office, a bank, a couple of nice pubs and cafés and other retail. The village is less than a 10 minute drive from beaches like Garryvoe and Ballywilling, while Midleton town is about a 0 minute drive and Cork City is less than half an hour.
Selling No 4 is Judy O’Brien of ERA Downey McCarthy and she says Castlemartyr is being rejuvenated by first time buyers “buying up probate sales and putting lots of work into them”.
She says No 4 “is deceptive” , that there’s more to it than meets the eye from kerbside.
Ms O’Brien is guiding at €190,000.
The owner says it’s “perfect for a first time buyer/small family”.
“I hope whoever buys has as much luck as I have had here,” she says, adding that “East Cork is Best Cork.”
Colourful, convenient starter home in an up-and-coming village.
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