Classical, yet contemporary Lee Road home brings the best of both worlds

2 Hollymount, Lee Road

Hollymount, Lee Road, Cork
€345,000
Size	84 sq m (900 sq ft)
Bedrooms	2
Bathrooms	1
BER	B3

There’s the best of old, and the best of new, at No 2 Hollymount House — a fully renovated, and charm-filled section of a larger mid-1800s Victorian home with south-facing views over the Lee Fields, within a walk of Cork city centre, UCC, and major hospitals.

Built as a substantial private residence on the Dunscombe family’s Mount Desert Estate, and extended at one stage to include a ballroom, Hollymount House was the home for a number of years of a High Sheriff of Cork City, Alfred Dobbin, also a merchant businessman and justice of the peace and his wife Kate, a noted watercolourist in her day.

By the 1960s, it was carved into four separate sections of varying sizes, from 1,600 sq ft to the front, to around 900 sq ft in side wings such as at No 2, now for sale.

No 2 was bought as a doer-up for a recorded €245,000 in 2018 (when No 1 also sold for a reported €392,000). Taking it on was a young couple, Oliver Browne and Siún McCarthy, as their first home when aged in their mid 20s, and who say it had been a rental for a period.

But, they saw scope to restore it to private occupation and add creature comforts, and so took on substantial renovations, including insulation, a new roof (Blue Bangor slate to the front), a new bathroom, new timber framed double-glazed sash windows (some with shutters), restored floorboards, and a whole lot more.

To their credit, too, their upgrades have earned No 2 a B3 energy rating — not bad for a home with some 170 years under its belt.

Retained and enhanced features include some stained glass, stripped pine doors, decorative ceiling (11ft high at ground level), dado rails, etc, and the revamped bathroom now is four-piece with separate bath and shower.

Some eight years on, it’s been an exercise they really enjoyed, says Oliver, so much so they want to do something similar, but on a larger scale, and have their eyes firmly set on a renovation project around St Patrick’s Hill: they’ll leave No 2 with it firmly in walk-in condition, with a six-month-old baby daughter, a pug dog called Lucy, and many happy memories.

No 2 was listed this month with a €345,000 AMV cited by Katie Fennessy of Sherry FitzGerald, and was already under high offer, at €366,000 by the middle of this week, with interest primarily shown so far by couples, first-time buyers, and downsizers, she says.

It’s effectively apartment sized, with an entry hall/tiled vestibule right of the door, and at ground is a main living area with west-facing window and fireplace, dining area with window on the east side, smart galley style kitchen, upgraded bathroom and a small rear courtyard.

Above, are two bedrooms, with a roof light over the stairs.

To the front is a private drive with a car charge point and a sit-out space that gets day and evening sun, and which has been a fave summer 2026 eat-out spot too.

VERDICT: Great location, historic roots and period property trim, but all on a manageable scale.