Handyman Dad put a classy stamp on this €475,000 Castlelyons home

Unless you want to re-decorate, it's job done at No 29 Ard na Rí

Fri, 02 Aug, 2024 - 17:00

Catherine Shanahan

Castlelyons, Cork
€475,000
Size	195 sq m (2099 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	4
BER	B1

EVERY grown-up kid buying a home needs a dad with superpowers: the kind that knows how to fit kitchens, get the plumbing done, floor the attic, build the built-ins.

Just such a dad was at hand for the lucky couple that bought 29 Ard na Rí in Castlelyons early in 2017.

“We were living abroad when we bought it and my dad did the majority of the work,” says one half of the couple, whose carpenter/joiner dad was a godsend.

While the couple guided design, choice of materials etc, the handy dad put in the hard yards, as the house was a blank canvas.

The main thing he did initially was to fit the kitchen.

The couple selected the style and he set about implementing it. Beautifully bespoke, it has a solid oak island worktop with inset solid Ash handles. The kitchen dresser also has a solid oak top, while quartzite worktops came from DTOPS.

Upstairs, the handy dad made wardrobes for bedrooms.

He was savvy enough to upgrade the plumbing too and to fit a Stira to the insulated attic, where he added flooring and shelving. He could pretty much turn his hand to anything, evolving from carpenter/joiner to self-employed kitchen designer and fitter, so it was all “second nature to him”, says his son, who adds that he’s since retired.

It didn’t stop him adding wall paneling to the main bedroom in more recent times, creating a lovely feature wall.

The ensuite is quite a feature too, as is the main bathroom, which the couple expanded. It comes with freestanding bath and extra large walk-in pump-driven shower.

The couple love how the house turned out, particularly the striking Winckleman tiling in the bright entrance hall and downstairs loo.

Martin Kelleher, a West Cork artist, spend a week labouring over it, hand cutting tiles to fit like pieces of a jigsaw.

The couple love the box bay in the hall also, where light pours in.

They had a bespoke blind made for the upstairs box bay, which will “save the new owner the job of getting one,” the couple say.

A new owner will be spared many jobs as the house is turnkey. It’s even been freshly painted externally – thanks again to that mighty dad’s help.

“If you went out in the morning looking for a new house, it wouldn’t be as turnkey as this one,” the owners say.

It’s a high quality home for sure, on a 0.4 acre south west-facing corner site, where the rear garden is fully enclosed and “safe for kids” the owners say.

They add that there are lots of families with young kids in the estate, where there’s also a green to play on. There’s a national school in nearby Castlelyons village, which also has a Centra, a post office, two pubs, a very strong GAA club (represented by Niall O’Leary in the recent All-Ireland senior hurling final) a pitch and putt club and a garden centre/hardware store.

Selling this expertly-finished, energy efficient (B1) four-bed home is Kyle Kennedy of Hegarty Properties and he says it offers space, comfort and style, as well as potential for expansion.

He points out that it’s just a minute from Castlelyons village, 20 minutes from the Jack Lynch Tunnel and 25 minutes from Cork city centre. Fermoy, where there are secondary schools, is just 5km away.