Ballyhooley Road, Cork city €595,000 Size 226 sq m (2430 sq ft) Bedrooms 4 Bathrooms 3 BER A2 WHY would you up sticks and leave a home designed around your specific wishes and with the kind of stellar energy rating many households can only aspire to? For the chance to do it all again, as is the case of Alan and Ciara Hoare, with the reassurance that the same design team who served you so well in the first place are also on board second time around. With young kids now in tow, the couples’ needs have changed since they moved into Ard Rua in 2014. One of a trio of lookalike homes in Sunview Place East, off Ballyhooley Rd, designed by Monahan Road-based BRH Design Partners, each has a bespoke façade and internal tweaks.
What they all have in common is the bedroom count (four) and the A2 energy rating. Detached, and staggered for greater privacy, Ard Rua is set further back in the cul-de-sac than its neighbour. It means more driveway for off-street parking, but less garden to the rear.
This suits the couple who are content not to have to maintain a large lawn, but can still enjoy a nice bit of space for the kids to play in. They also have a generous patio off the main living area. Ard Rua has plenty of attractions, key among them the design of the main living area.
The ‘wow’ factor is the floor-to-ceiling glazing that rises into an apex along the rear wall. Light floods in from the garden and through two overhead veluxes. A door in the glazing leads to the patio.
Ard Rua is a tall and generous home (2,430sq ft), spread over three storeys. It has underfloor heating on the ground floor, where there’s also a sitting room, utility and guest WC. Each of the two top floors has two double bedrooms.
Each of the middle-floor bedrooms has an en suite and one has the luxury of a walk-in wardrobe. There’s also a home office on the top floor, and a storage room. The latter is plumbed for a bathroom, if you wanted the convenience of a bathroom on each floor.
Alan and Ciara are relocating to Ballincollie Rd, where BRH Design Partners have designed half a dozen homes. This time instead of a self-build, the main contractor is Murphy New Homes. “We’re looking forward to the opportunity of doing it all again,” the couple say, adding that friends of theirs will be living close by in some of the BRH-designed homes.
Selling Ard Rua is Garry O’Donnell of ERA Downey McCarthy and he predicts “very strong interest” in this stylish, contemporary property, “given the quality of the build, the top-notch energy rating and the south-facing rear aspect”. Mr O’Donnell says: “I think someone in the area, maybe Gardiner’s Hill or Dillon’s Cross, who is looking for a bigger home with a garden and has ruled out an expensive retrofit/renovation of an older property, will be to the fore. Relocators from Dublin could feature too.
” Convenience is key also, Mr O’Donnell says, adding that Ballyhooley Rd is on a number of bus routes to Cork City centre and beyond. St Luke’s Cross is short stroll away. The Glen Amenity Park, a wildlife habitat with lovely walkways, is literally on the doorstep, at the end of the lane, in this mature neighbourhood, near schools and retail.
VERDICT: Good-looking home in convenient location. Buyers will qualify for more favourable green mortgage rates thanks to the energy rating..
