€645k AMV is only the spend  starting point for Cork's corner-set Greenpark

Douglas site with two access points can take extensions or more

Greenpark or No 1 Ardfallen Estate is on a corner site by Browningstown. Selling agents Frank V Murphy & Co launch at €645k

Douglas/Ballinlough, Cork City
€645,000
Size	148 sq m (1,598 sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	2
BER	E2

THERE’S quite the array of options at Greenpark, a mid-1900s semi-d, in a standout corner site of a quarter of an acre in deepest ‘Douglas meets Ballinlough’ suburban Cork. 

All a go-go at Greenpark and its corner site setting

The four-bedroomed, 1,600sq ft house, Greenpark or No 1 Ardfallen Estate, is set just off the main Douglas Road near Eglantine girls national school, relocated GoGo’s cafe, and at the junction point of Eglantine Park, Ardfallen Estate, and Browningstown Park West. It comes for sale with an achievable €645,000 AMV, despite needing further spending.

How much more? Well, this is ‘how long’s a piece of string?’ territory as some may see it as a do-er up; others will see it as a chance to go larger, or even very large, and the site allows it for sure, while some may even reckon on getting a second house onto the site as well?

Much will depend on ambitions and on planners: The immediate vicinity has seen strong prices paid for semi-ds in all shapes, sizes, and condition: One well-extended semi-d in Browningstown, launched early this summer with a guide of €700,000-plus, has already been bid over €900,000 — a premium reflecting its walk-in condition.

In contrast, No 1 Ardfallen aka Greenpark is a bit of a project, one way or another, but as it has been empty for a number of years, a buyer might be able to get up to €50,000 supports under the vacant property grant scheme, as well as aim for other grants to upgrade energy efficiency under SEAI incentives.

Greenpark is listed with Dennis Guerin and Chloe Reidy of Frank V Murphy auctioneers. They note the owners secured planning permission some years ago for a second entrance — facing the roads of Browningstown and Hettyfield — in addition to the original opening at the start of the Ardfallen Estate.

The Ardfallen address comes from the original Ardfallen House, one of the larger historic estate houses in the wider Ballinlough vicinity, with the name also carried into a mixed-use development, Ardfallen Mall, by the Briar Road bar/restaurant on the Douglas Road.

The Property Price Register lists over 30 sales since 2010 with an Ardfallen address, and just over 20 as Ardfallen Estate, with the most recent resales all in excess of €500,000, so No 1 is going to push the envelope in all sorts of ways, price-wise, as well as to what may ultimately get delivered here on a very amenable corner site.

A near neighbour on a facing Browningstown corner site, also semi-detached, did a major extension with lots of sleek cut stone and striking glazing, back in the boom years, now disappearing behind high hedges, while the corner itself is busy at peak school times and peak ‘coffee and cake’ times at GoGo’s.

Basic kitchen

Greenpark’s dual access, to the side and front, is a boon, reckons selling agent Dennis Guerin, whose firm got €770,000 for the nearby, well-finished three-bed semi St Bronach’s on a corner site in Browningstown last year.

St Bronach or 16 Browningstown sold for €770,000

Greenpark is an E2 BER-rated home: distinctive vertical windows open to the front porch and side gable, with a substantial former garage to the side, part converted to residential use and single storey, included in the stated floor area of just under 1,600 sq ft.

Its main reception room is double-sized, with attractive 1950s curved stone fireplace. There’s a compact kitchen off a mid-section breakfast room, plus sunroom, with a WC. Above are four bedrooms, bathroom, and separate WC. The quarter-acre garden “offers excellent scope for further landscaping or development, subject to planning permission”, say the selling agents, stressing the array of amenities, from schools to shops to sports facilities.
VERDICT: This might very well be one to drive by in a few years to see just how dramatic a change has been effected at No 1.