Starter Homes: Turners Cross, Glengarriff, Carrigtwohill, and South Douglas Road

A cottage-style city home, a West Cork farmhouse, a three-bed semi, and a two-bed terraced house suitable for first-time buyers

Top left: 8 Berkley Court, South Douglas Rd; centre left: 23 St Annes Park, Turners Cross; lower left: 9 Chestnut Avenue, Fota Rock, Carrigtwohill. Main image: Rougham, Glengarriff, Co. Cork

Charming Turners Cross cottage-style mid-terrace comes with a ready-made home office

Turners Cross, Cork city
€315,000
Size	69sq m (742sq ft)
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	1
BER	C

The cottage-style décor on the interior of 23 St Annes Park in Turners Cross enhances the appeal of this well located three-bed home. 

“It’s a charming family home in a quiet residential area and is located within walking distance of the city centre,” says Jim Coughlan of James J Coughlan auctioneer who scheduled 14 viewings at the property this week and another 14 next week.

Guiding at €315,000, it’s a mid-terrace, 1940s-built house with 69sq m of living space and a C energy rating.

The owners have done quite a bit of upgrading since buying it more than 12 years ago, reveals Mr Coughlan: the installation of double glazing, a gas boiler (fitted three years ago), and a detached 20 sq m home office.

Overlooking the front garden is a living room with painted floorboards, a cast iron fireplace and a striking red chimney breast. At the rear is a kitchen/ diner with a cottage-style feel which has modern fitted units, open shelving, and a redbrick fireplace.

The upstairs has a modern tiled bathroom and three bedrooms.

Out front the property has a driveway and, at the rear, a garden with lawn, two patios and a detached home office.

VERDICT: An affordable property in a popular residential area, just a 20-minute walk to the city centre

Massive potential in this 1900s farmhouse with great views and riverside woods

Glengarriff, West Cork
€269,000
Size	Size: 88 sq m (947 sq ft)
Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	1
BER	G

Nestled beneath the rugged sandstone slopes of the Caha Mountains, this old farmhouse at Rougham near Glengarriff, is scenic enough to attract a variety of buyers — most especially those on the hunt for holiday retreat.

But given its spectacular setting, Niamh Moloney of Sherry FitzGerald O’Neill expects the traditional two-bed property and its wooded 0.8 acre site to also appeal to buyers looking to relocate to West Cork.

Believed to date from the 1900s, it’s an owner-occupied property which has upgraded over the years but has a G BER rating and is in need of modernisation.

It has a sitting room with two sash-style windows and a Stanley stove which heats the radiators throughout the house and the hot water. Improvements over the years have included the construction of a lean-to kitchen extension at the side which has timber fitted units and two Velux windows. The upstairs has a bathroom and two bedrooms with views across the valley.

Attached to the front of the house is a greenhouse. “In the wooded grounds which abut the Glengarriff River, there’s also a polytunnel for growing vegetables,” reveals Ms Moloney who is seeking offers of €269,000.

Accessed by a quiet rural boreen, the property is 7km from Glengarriff and is within a short drive of Barley Lake and the Glengarriff Nature Reserve — a 300-hectare area of woodland popular with hikers and hillwalkers.

“The property is full of character and the location is both spectacularly scenic and wonderfully private,” says Ms Moloney pointing to proximity to Kenmare (23 km) as a selling point.

VERDICT: Picturesque and brimming with potential.

Carrigtwohill three-bed semi-d for €325,000

Carrigtwohill, Co Cork
€325,000
Size	Size:95 sq m (1,022 sq ft)
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	2
BER	B

The type of property that could make a first-tme buyer very happy, No 9 Chestnut Avenue, Fota Rock in Carrigtwohill is a modern three-bed semi with a guide of €325,000.

“It’s well presented and has an exceptionally large back garden with scope to extend,” says John Hornibrook of Colbert & Co. Accommodation
includes a living room, a kitchen/diner and a utility, a bathroom and three bedrooms, one en suite.

Overlooking a green area in a cul de sac, it’s on a corner and has garden space at front, side, and rear.

VERDICT: A box-ticking three-bed semi.

Terraced €290k two-bed on South Douglas Road

Douglas, Cork city
€290,000
Size	Size: 63 sq m (678 sq ft)
Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	1
BER	C

An affordable option for a young couple or a downsizer, No 8 Berkley Court on the South Douglas Rd is a two-bed mid terrace house with a guide of €290,000.

Selling agent Alice Hodder of Jeremy Murphy auctioneers says it’s a well-kept 1980s-built property. Because of its proximity to Douglas village, around a kilometre away, she also expects interest from investors. Accommodation includes a kitchen, a living/dining room, two bedrooms and a bathroom, with a garden at the rear.

VERDICT: Affordable properties in the Douglas area are always in high demand.