House of the Week: Tried and truly tested Douglas home still comes through
No 2 Tuloch Beag – home to a family of eight – has been tried, and truly tested, and still comes through, shining and robust and well-presented: so says Savills Cork estate agent Lawrence Sweeney, of this detached property, built about 12 years ago, and since extended.
Set up by the College Corinthians soccer club grounds, up above Cork’s Douglas suburb at Castletreasure, it’s a smartly presented and added-to (of necessity) detached build, now put at over 2,400 sq ft, and with five bedrooms.
No 2 was built in 2005 by Kinsale builders, as one of three new-builds in the grounds of an older original home on lots of land, and the current owners (parents and six children, aged from college years down to youngsters,) moved in in 2006.
They extended in 2008, with work done by Laide and O’Brien, and doing things like extending with Thermoboard insulation and other adjustments manage now to secure it a solid B3 BER, while there’s also an electric charge point for a car in the spacious front drive, much used for powering family commutes: “the future is here,” observes Mr Sweeney.
Perhaps initially surprising, there’s appears very little green lawn space for the family wish-list ‘to kick a ball around on,’ but in fact that’s a bit deceptive, and there is indeed quite a bit of space for outdoors play, segregated into sections, including a busy swing area with playground-like all-weather surface, and there’s a big Barna shed for essential bike and toy storage.
Despite a suburban/rural setting just 1.5kms out from Douglas, and relative proximity to a bus service (the 207 leaves from Scart Cross, about 300m from Tuloch Beag) the owners are selling to be closer to the city centre, more proximate to suburban schools and college commutes; the sheer logistics of mobilising and motivating a family with six children, and all of their extracurricular activities, kit and caboodle, could indeed need military precision organisation skills.
Despite expectations of what must be relatively high internal foot-traffic levels, Savills’ Mr Sweeney says the home is in ‘superior decorative order throughout,’ and internally it is laid out to accommodate a spread of day and night and study uses.
Two of its five bedrooms have en-suite bathrooms, and four are accessed from the main staircase with bed five via a second stairs, by a large, open plan family room/playroom, office/lounge, with patio access.
This multi-use space has, close to the kitchen connection point, a Blacksmith multi-fuel stove. Separately there are two other reception rooms, and a big kitchen/diner, plus a guest WC and utility, and finishes include hardwoods floors, such as oak and maple, and tiling.
No 2 has open viewings starting on Tuesday next, 1.15pm to 1.45pm (NS school pick-up time?), and at the €535,000 asking price Lawrence Sweeney says the location is excellent, close to Douglas and to Cork Airport, and about a 15 minute commute to the city, traffic permitting.
Noting that No 2 is just one of a trio of similar era homes at Castletreasure’s Tuloch Beag, he adds “it’s in superb decorative order, ideal for a family and is a great opportunity for those seeking to upgrade to a very modern home.”
