Pillars of society? Period era limestone pillars and gates of the original Carrigduve House open to the small row of 'affordable' townhouses at Carrig Dubh off the Blackrock Road: agent Jeremy Murphy guides at €345,000

DON’T even try keeping up with the neighbours at 7 Carrig Dubh – the c 40-year-old townhouse hidden off the main Blackrock Road in Cork has some of the city’s best homes almost on its doorstep.

Some might even be worth close to satirist and humorist Reggie’s notional “€5.2m mansion on the Blackrock Road” (he upped the value from €4.8m some time back, unperturbed by minutiae like local property tax bands).

Called after the Blackrock setting, the Carrig Dubh niche scheme of nine homes – compact, easily kept and utterly pitched now at traders down, in a block of five, another block of three and one on its own – was built on the grounds of a period house, Carrigduve, as evidenced by the quite grand limestone entrance gates, topped with carved Georgian decorative motifs, (pic right) opposite the entrance to Menloe Gardens.

Within walking distance of these lovely gates are the likes of Dundanion House (by architect Thomas Deane) and the former Church of Ireland Rectory (by architect William H Hill), now both after considerable and expensive upgrades, while the former Drumcora House is just on the city side, part-slate hung and bow fronted, is now being converted to luxury apartments for the trade-down market.

Back at Carrig Dubh, the original period property, Carrigduve House, is still to the back of its original grounds, utterly out of sight (except in glimpses from the Marina greenway through trees, where its multi-sided central bay window is a literal standout) and dates to 1830s, designed in an Italianate style by Thomas and Kearns Deane, sons of a Cork architectural dynasty.

And, immediately to the east are the 1960s-designed Dundanion Court flat-roofed houses around two courtyards, much loved today by architects and design fiends, done by former city architect Neil Hegarty during his early practise years and a winner of an RIAI Gold Medal.

So, pretty intimidating territory to be buying into, it might appear.

Listed for sale this month is 7 Carrig Dubh, the centre townhouse in a block of three linked to a slightly longer block of five, facing a communal green.

It’s of a similar design to comparable c 1,000 sq ft niche, infill schemes by Crab Lane, and several in Douglas (eg the Cross Douglas Road, Ballincurrig and Rosebank) and is priced at €345,000 by auctioneer Jeremy Murphy.

As there’s only a handful here, resales are pretty uncommon and the Price Register shows the last, No 1 Carrig Dubh a decade ago, making €165,000 in 2013.

Not only has the market moved on considerably since 2013, Blackrock’s appeal has never been so high... Well, not since the 1830s, anyway, so Mr Murphy can expect very considerable interest.

The immediate response to its listing was from traders-down, and while it’s within the reach of first-time buyers, they are likely to be outgunned by older buyers.

In excellent order throughout, just needing a decorative update for modernity’s sake, this 45-year-old home has 1,1050 sq ft inside, with two double bedrooms with older-style built-ins, has an already updated main bathroom, neutrally tiled with shower, a guest WC, stairs to the side, with an open-plan living/dining room, front-to-back with fireplace and slender corniced ceiling, with a compact kitchen.

It has gas central heating, PVC double-glazed windows and a C3 BER, and as it has neighbours either side, it is sure to be kept cosy.

Finally, its best pitch to traders-down – apart from the obvious location draw and the 200-year-old posh limestone entrance pillars and gates – is the accessible rear enclosed courtyard garden, with a private car port and storage bins, accessed via a roller shutter door and/or a side timber pedestrian gate.

VERDICT: No 7 Carrig Dubh mightn’t be the biggest house on the road, but it’s a certain boxticker for any number of home hunters of a certain age demographic, who may have considerable cash piles fom selling larger homes in the Blackrock suburb.

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