Stylish €695,000 Ballea bungalow is a class act

The home features a lovely garden room which syncs with remote working

13 Hillcrest, Ballea Hill, Carrigaline

Carrigaline, Cork
€695,000
Size	131sq m (1410sq ft)
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	2
BER	D2

You could be fooled into thinking that Hill Crest was nothing to write home about when glimpsed up the leafy laneway off Ballea Hill.

Rest assured, though, that it amounts to a great deal more than your typical 1980s bungalow. Under its current ownership, the house has been transformed thanks to a stylish contemporary extension — including a raised roofline to the rear.

Beneath the striking double height ceiling, light floods in, amplified by the southerly aspect Hill Crest is blessed with.

Up the hill from historic Ballea Castle, outside the busy town of Carrigaline, Hill Crest has a well organised layout with open plan kitchen/dining/living space, glazed floor-to-ceiling doors to the patio, and garden areas. A high-gloss red kitchen forms a dramatic contrast to the crisp white walls; varying ceiling heights add volume and picture windows are well placed to frame countryside views.

The 0.42-acre gardens are just as charming as the indoors and there are several sitting out areas, on patio and decking to the front of the house, and in a small, enclosed patio courtyard to the rear, overlooked by an independent garden room/home office — with adjoining loo — which was added in recent years.

The whole package is commendably well-presented and comes with a nice bit of accommodation, including four bedrooms. Auctioneer Michael Pigott is selling the 131sq m single-storey home, and he says there’s already good interest from families living in Carrigaline town who are keen to swap their three-bed semis for a detached four bed on a generous, elevated piece of land.

“Even though it’s in a rural location, it’s really convenient to Carrigaline, which is just 2km away, about five minutes by car.

“It’s also a short commute to Cork city — about 15 minutes — and even closer to Ringaskiddy, which is a busy employment hub,” the agent says.

Mr Pigott, who has pinned an AMV of €695,000 to Hill Crest, says the self-contained garden room is a versatile unit, ideal as a home office or any number of uses.

The current owners, who bought Hill Crest 15 years ago, are downsizing and relocating.

VERDICT: Crisply presented, and stylishly renovated, Hill Crest is a light-filled, very attractive, property in nicely landscaped grounds, with garden room bonus.