Cork's Montenotte is on the move, boy

With a sunroom, a C3 energy rating, and a price drop in the order of €30,000, No 6 Montenotte Grove sounds like an healthy option for anyone looking for a fine family home, in a settled suburb on the up and up - with the Montenotte Hotel now a standard bearer.

Set well back from main roads in a semi-circular estate of less than a dozen houses, No 6 comes to market via auctioneers Cohalan Downing following a change of selling agent and a drop in the guide price from €475,000 to €445,000.

“It’s a lovely house,” estate agent Brian Olden says “it’s unusual for a home of its era [c1970s] to have a good C3 energy rating.”

Boiler and insulation upgrades did the trick, but that’s not all the previous owners did. They also extended downstairs, to create a very spacious living room/dining area and lounge.

And there’s yet more choice of rooms to enjoy that first coffee in the morning — perhaps overlooking a lovely west-facing rear garden from the sunroom?

The view from this perch is unobstructed as a small road to the rear of the property running through a green area leads to the nearby St Joseph’s Church and is not ripe for development any time soon.

Rolling hills are visible in the distance, reinforcing the sense of a very compact city, where the countryside is never far away.

No 6 has an open fireplace in the lounge and a gas coal-effect fire set in a cast-iron fireplace in the living room, but even with all that C3 cosiness, there’s nothing like the occasional change of scenery and where better to head for a hour or two of downtime than the nearby Montenotte Hotel, where the beauty of its new sunken ‘Victorian’ garden will knock your socks off, and a woodland walkway behind the garden leads to a Victorian glasshouse set deep in the woods.

Alternatively, if you’re a dog-owner, the Tank Field, a popular haunt for sociable dog-walkers, is only a five-minute stroll away.

For die-hard GAA fans, the Tank Field is also home to Brian Dillons Hurling and Football Club. Tucked away in the corner is primary school GaelScoil an Ghoirt Álainn, which has a brand new premises in the offing.

After years in the planning process, the new school is finally “ag teacht go luath” (coming soon), according to the school’s website.

Well out the other side of the planning process and going up at a rate of knots, is a stylish development of 16 three-storey town houses with panoramic views over the city, nestled down on the south-facing hills below the former Arbutus Lodge Hotel.

These €720k upmarket homes, by M Homes, are also for sale through Cohalan Downing.

Back in Montenotte Grove, a mature residential estate, all of the houses have decent front and rear gardens, in addition to a generous green out front.

There’s also plenty of car-parking, both off and on-street.

No 6 has a maintenance-free cobble-locked driveway, running down the side of a well-kept garden, as well as rear access via a side entrance.

The property has four bedrooms and two bathrooms, a study (which could function as a playroom) and a utility room.

It’s bright and airy throughout and is in a great location — all downhill to bustling St Lukes with its artisan shop and butchers, café, post-office, wine bar and pharmacy, and of course Henchy’s, a wateringhole with a soul. Dunnes Stores Shopping Centre in nearby Ballyvolane had undergone a major refurb, and is ideal for the weekly family shopathon.

Mr Olden says the owners of No 6 are relocating and whoever buys here will acquire “a good, solid family home”.

VERDICT

A fine buy in Montenotte, boy.

Montenotte, Cork City

€445,00

Size: 161 sq m/1733 sq ft

Beds: 4

Bathrooms: 2

BER: C3

Best Feature: Amenities

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