Shipshape Cork city renovation floated at  €350k

Capable couple and daughter transformed home near UCC

Maritime flavour at Peninsula House,  Wycherley Terrace in Cork. Agent Stephen Clarke of REA O'Donoghue Clarke guides upgraded home at €350k

Wycherley  Place Cork City
€350,000
Size	84 sq m (905 sq ft)
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	1
BER	C3

AT this time of the year, it’s not unusual to see properties coming up for sale in the University College Cork (UCC) area that have been bought and renovated by parents for use by their student offspring. What’s remarkable about this one, No 30 Wycherley Place, off College Road, is the transformation.

Corner-set Peninsula House

When Stephen Clarke, of REA O’Donoghue & Clarke, sold this end-of-terrace property to the owners for their daughter in 2019, it was a drab, run-down ex-rental with two bedrooms, 59 sq m of living space, and a low BER.

The interior now is almost totally unrecognisable. New to the market for €350,00, it’s smart, stylish, and full of character, with three bedrooms, 84 sq m of accommodation, and a C3 BER.

Renamed Peninsula House, it has higher ceilings than before and has been fitted with a modern kitchen and bathroom, laminate flooring, and a new staircase. The additional bedroom on the upper floor has a small balcony, a feature that is almost unheard of in this type of property.

Bunk in

“The three of us — my husband, my daughter, and myself — spent a year doing it up and put our heart and soul in to it,” says the student’s mother, explaining that her husband is a carpenter and did a lot of the work.

They started by gutting the inside, taking down walls and ceilings, and removing plasterwork. “All that was left was four walls, the double-glazed windows, which were put in previously.” Small ground-floor rooms have now been replaced with an open-plan kitchen/dining/living room with laminate flooring, grey and white shaker-style units, and a higher ceiling.

“When we removed the plaster, we found a section with London red-stock bricks of the type that were used for ballast by ships in the 19th century and were able to use this as a feature,” says the owner.

Deep blue yonder

They added to the character by exposing and painting a stone wall on the other side of the room and fitting reclaimed timber doors, which they sourced on DoneDeal, refurbished and fitted with latched handles.

Giving a smart makeover to the shower room at the rear, they tiled it in blue, put in contemporary fittings, and added a skylight. The yard was converted into a WC and a high-ceilinged utility room that has modern appliances, as well as a Victorian-style pulley system for drying clothes.

The replacement staircase has rope bannisters of the type you see on ships and all three bedrooms have laminate flooring and exposed ceiling beams. “To improve the energy efficiency, we put in internal insulation,” says the owner, adding that they also fitted a stove and installed energy-efficient electric radiators.

“We gave it its name because it sits, like a peninsula, on the corner between Wycherley Terrace and Wycherley Place and we were told by neighbours that a previous owner spent so much time looking out from it that she became known as Mrs Peninsula, ” the owner says.

Shipshape

Such was the high level of interest in the property — which is located within a five-minute walk of UCC — that Mr Clarke scheduled two open viewings at Peninsula House during the week.

“We are definitely going to get a lot of students’ parents looking at it,” he says, adding that the renting of a room or two could be an option for these types of buyers. He also expects interest from college staff and investors.

The Property Price Register shows 30 Wycherley Place selling for €135,000 in 2019.

VERDICT: Reinvented with skill and imagination.