City to Country: Energy efficient Drumcondra mid-terrace or renovated Coom West school for €350k

City, country and coastal living options are checked out by Trish Dromey

The Old Schoolhouse Coon Coom West Kilkenny

Drumcondra, Dublin 9
€525,000
Size	80 sq m (861 sq ft)
Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	1
BER	B3

Upgraded for the second time in less than 10 years, this two-bed mid-terrace house at 2 Millbourne Avenue, Drumcondra in Dublin 9 is both energy efficient and stylishly modern.

On the market with Movehome Estate Agents, it has just been given a complete makeover by a couple of serial renovators who bought it at the start of last year.

“

It’s wonderfully presented with new flooring, windows and doors, an upgraded bathroom and a new white gloss kitchen with an orange glass splashback,” reveals auctioneer Ronan Crinion, quoting a guide of €525,000. The BER has been brought up from a D1 to a B3 which is pretty good for a house built in 1910.

The 80 sq m property has a front sitting room with a modern electric wall fire and a set of double glass-panelled doors leading to a contemporary kitchen/dining/living area with a centre island and large new patio doors. Upstairs the two bedrooms and the bathroom have also been refurbished and modernised. 

On street at the front, the house has a southwest-facing patio garden at the rear (pic,above). “It’s located in a quiet residential area within a short walk from shops, cafes, bars, and restaurants in Drumcondra village and is just a 20-minute stroll away from the city centre,” says Mr Crinion.

The Property Price Register shows it selling for €184,500 in 2014 before its previous renovation and again for €422,500 in April last year.

VERDICT: Very tastefully made over.

Butlerstown, Co Waterford
€500,000
Size	215 sq m (2,314 sq ft)
Bedrooms	5
Bathrooms	3
BER	A3

Although it’s located a little more than a 10-minute drive from Waterford city centre, this five-bed property at Carriganard in Butlerstown has everything a family could need or hope for in a country home.

It has space — 215 sq metres of it — and one of the five bedrooms serves as a gym while another has been fitted out as an office.

In addition to this, it’s also highly energy efficient and has solar panels, a heat pump, high levels of insulation, and an A3 BER.

On its 0.3-acre site, there are colourful flower gardens as well as a large plot used for producing varied crops of vegetables. The property also has a detached garage and a sizable studio where the owners make pottery.

To the rear, there’s a raised patio with countryside views and, amidst the rose bushes, a pergola with a hammock where the owners can take their ease after their horticultural and artistic endeavours.

Seeking offers of €500,000, Nicole Shanahan of Barry Murphy Auctioneers says it’s a beautifully presented property which has been extended and extensively modernised.

Current owners doubled the size of the bungalow by adding on an extension for a modern kitchen dining living room, a gym, and a home office. Other accommodation includes three bedrooms (one en suite), a utility, a WC, a shower room, and a lounge with full-height patio doors.

VERDICT: Offers country living with space, flowers and vegetables and is likely to be toasty in winter.

Coom West, Co Kilkenny
€350,000
Size	135 sq m (1,453 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	1
BER	C3

Interesting and unusual options for rural relocation on offer this month include an old vocational school at Coom West, near Castlecomer in Kilkenny, which has been turned into a modern four-bed home.

Dating from the 1930s, the schoolhouse closed in the 1960s and was converted to residential use by previous owners in the 1970s.

Since buying it in recent years, the current owners have carried out significant renovation work.

“They insulated, put in PVC double glazing, upgraded the plumbing, the electrics, and the oil-fired heating and also put in a new kitchen,” says Lisa O’Sullivan of DNG Dunphy who is seeking offers of €350,000.

She says it’s light-filled and modern and that the large private gardens, which are bounded by a river with a waterfall at the rear, make a very attractive feature.

Offering 135 sq m of living space, the property has a spacious open plan kitchen/dining/living room with polished concrete flooring, as well as cream units with beech worktops and a rustic style timber island.

Other accommodation includes a utility room, a bathroom, and four bedrooms including some with painted floorboards. The BER has been brought up to a C3.

Outside there are gardens at front and rear with mature trees, including some producing plums and apples.

Located within 200m from Coom village, the old schoolhouse is 19km from both Kilkenny City and Carlow town.

VERDICT: Alternative and interesting, it might tempt a Dublin City buyer.

Garretstown, Co Cork
€335,000
Size	110 sq m (1,184 sq ft)
Bedrooms	3/4
Bathrooms	3
BER	C3

Built in the late 1990s as a holiday property, No 11 Kinsale Cottages in Garretstown could have a lot of appeal for a retiree who wants to live by the seaside.

Within a short walk from Garretstown Beach, the pretty, traditional-style property is — according to Gobnait O’Connell of Engel & Voelkers — one of just a small few properties in a development of 16 houses to have sea views.

On the market with a guide of €355,000, it’s a 112 sq m cottage in which one of the original four bedrooms has been turned into a sitting room.

“It’s been well maintained by its current owners who have put in a stove and changed the flooring,” says Ms O’Connell.

Downstairs it has an open-plan kitchen/diner with a fireplace and fitted units as well as a bathroom, a bedroom and a sitting room with a stove. Upstairs there’s a bathroom and two bedrooms, one en suite.

Outside there’s a small open-plan garden area, which Ms O’Connell says could be enclosed by new owners.

Although the address is Kinsale Cottages, the property is located 12km from Kinsale but is just 4km from the Old Head of Kinsale.

While some of the cottages are owner- occupied and some are rentals, Ms O’Connell says that to date most of the viewers for this one have been buyers looking for a permanent residence.

VERDICT: It might attract a buyer who likes the idea of working from home by the seaside.