Go for Pembroke in lofty €395k Passage West buy

Trade up in Passage West to this  affordable three-story,  four-bed home

Crescent at Pembroke Heights, where No 18 is for sale with agent Jeremy Murphy for €395,000

Passage West, Cork Harbour
€395,000
Size	125 sq m (1,345 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	3
BER	B3

THE PERSON best-qualified to vouch for the many improvements to this Passage West house since the current owners bought it seven years ago is the man who sold it to them.

18 Pembroke Heights, Pembroke Wood

Auctioneer Jeremy Murphy had No 18 Pembroke Heights, Pembroke Wood, photographed for a brochure in 2017, when he sold it for €280,000. He’s doing it all again in 2024.

“The couple that bought it from me back then did a lovely job in the interim, modernising the property and improving the energy rating and installing a new kitchen.

“They’ve asked me to handle the sale on their behalf this time, so I’ve had the chance to see just how much they put into it,” he says.

Sleek kitchen

A lot of the work was done in 2019. In addition to the sleek new kitchen with its solid timber units and contrasting quartz stone countertop, the couple fitted herringbone flooring in the entrance hall, the living room and the kitchen/dining room.

Top deck

The boiler was also replaced. The energy rating now is a B3, opening the door for more favourable mortgage rates.

There’s a lot about this 125 sq m house that will appeal to trading-up hopefuls priced out of doing so in Cork City.

At a time of shortage of second-hand, affordable trade-up stock, No 18 ticks a good few boxes: detached, four bedrooms, no need for expensive retrofitting.

Fresh and modern

Moreover Passage West, once a seaside resort with passenger ships and a railway, is only a short spin from Rochestown, and, from there, you’re into Douglas village in no time. You can cycle safely to the city too, via the excellent Passage West/Blackrock greenway, which follows that old rail line in as far as Blackrock Castle, from where a scenic cycle up the Marina brings you to the city.

Pembroke Heights, built about 20 years ago by Histron Ltd, a joint venture between John F Supple/Pierces, is by now a settled neighbourhood on the Cork city side of Passage West, high up above the harbour town. 

Rear view

At No 18, a three-storey timber-frame home, all the day-time living is on the ground floor (living room and open plan kitchen/dining, with double doors to the rear garden). The middle floor is given over to three bedrooms and the main bathroom (there’s a guest WC at ground floor level) and the top floor contains the main en suite bedroom with walk-in wardrobe. It’s a lofty home, deep and tall, with parking out front.

Work from (this) home?

Outdoors includes an open plan front garden and ample parking, and a private, south-facing rear garden with a patio area for barbequing/entertaining. The garden is laid to lawn, with some raised planting around the perimeter and there’s a barna shed.

Mr Murphy says No 18 is “turnkey”.

The guide price is €395,000.

The most recent sale in Pembroke Heights was of No 15, which sold last year for €467,000, from a starting price of €395,000.

Pembroke Heights is within walking distance of Passage West town centre, where there are schools and retail. A few minutes south by car is the harbour village of Monkstown, home to a popular dinghy sailing club, a tennis club and a golf club.

VERDICT: No 18 is a four bed of the more affordable variety, where new owners need not worry about upgrades. Ideal for a family keen on harbour-side living.