Starter Homes: Charming city home boasts quirky interior
No. 99 Hibernian Buildings, Albert Road, Cork, is attracting a lot of interest from single female house hunters.
Believed to have once been part of a library, No 99 Hibernian Buildings on Albert Road is an unexpectedly charming city property.
While the décor in many terraced properties of this type can sometimes be basic, the interior of this one looks rather pretty with varnished original floorboards, some open beams, old stonework, wainscoted walls, and painted rustic style kitchen units.
Quoting a guide of €255,000, Jim Coughlan of James G Coughlan auctioneers says it is guaranteed to attract single female house hunters — due to its central location and its interior.
Mr Coughlan also notes that the owner-occupiers who bought it 15 years ago have been careful to keep everything in character.
“They researched its history and discovered that it was bought on a 300-year lease in 1870 and that the archive city almanacs show it as being a residence since 1925."
Accommodation in the end-of-terrace property includes a kitchen with cream rustic style units and a red brick fireplace as well as a living room with a brick fireplace and a stove. An original timber staircase leads to the upstairs which has a shower room as well as two bedrooms which each have two side-by-side windows and exposed ceiling beams. A very central property, it’s located within a five-minute walk from Cork City Hall.
Mr Coughlan says it’s already had 50 viewing requests — mainly from women.
There is a strong likelihood that this cute Victorian cottage at 95 Sundays Well Road will sell to a female buyer.
Darragh Taaffe of Keane Mahony Smith is confident of this prediction because he’s just put the two-bed semi-detached house back on the market after the sale fell through.
The current owner is a woman who fell in love with the property and its flower-filled front garden after seeing it from the upper deck of a bus, says Mr Taaffe, explaining that she called and asked the then owner if she wanted to sell it to her, which she did.
Twenty years later, the cottage is pretty enough to attract a lot of female attention.
“It’s full of old-fashioned charm and has 10ft high ceilings and an extra-long south-facing front garden, Mr Taaffe says.
Inside the single-storey cottage, the walls are cream, and the décor is old-world, with timber paneling and chandelier-style light fittings. The installation of modern comforts such as double-glazing and gas heating have been done discreetly.
Double doors at the front open into a prettily decorated living room which has another set of double doors leading to a cottage-style kitchen with a delph-filled dresser. There’s a bathroom fitted with a claw-legged enamel bath as well as two bedrooms.
Options for a new owner include converting the attic and improving the BER, and she could apply for planning permission for off-street parking.
Attractive not just because of its appearance but also because of its Sunday’s Well location.
Thoroughly modernised and extended in recent years, No 287 Connolly Road in Ballyphehane looks nothing like the end-of-terrace 1950s house it used to be.
Now offering 1,280 sq ft of living space, it’s a three-bed property with two reception rooms, a converted attic used for storage as well as a contemporary kitchen with attractive grey and white units. It also has a guest WC and a bathroom upgraded with a Jacuzzi bath.
Jeremy Murphy & Associates say that bidding has gone €5,000 above the €275,000 guide price.
Likely to sell well
This three-bed end-of-terrace bungalow at 101 Riversfield Estate in Midleton is the type of property that downsizers love.
“It’s a single-storey property located in a mature cul de sac within a short walk from the town centre,’’ says Niamh Smith of Colbert & Co auctioneers noting that this type of property can be hard to come by in Midleton.
It is in need of updating and modernisation.
A very saleable property which has already attracted a bid of €204,000.
