Going once, going twice, just two homes left at €1m+ in upmarket Hettyfield Gardens 

YOU’D have almost had to charter a light aircraft to spot the potential of the site Hettyfield Gardens is now built on, such was the level of overgrowth just a few years ago. Even though it measures the bones of an acre, you’d have hardly known it was there, unless you lived in one of the very loose cordon of houses that surrounds it.

An inspector from An Bord Pleanála who visited while the proposal to build nine homes was under appeal, described the site as a “backlands site”at the centre of an urban block, bounded by Hettyfield Park, South Lodge and Hettyfield Lane. In recommending that the development go ahead, the inspector acknowledged the site’s “advantageous location”- which no doubt fuelled the development in the first place. Anyone who knows Hettyfield knows what the address means: large, detached, upmarket homes on generous plots, in a low density, ‘cradle-to-grave’ park.

Such is Hettyfield’s cachet, that less than two years after planners cleared the way in 2023, all nine homes in Hettyfield Gardens were built, seven were sold and six are now occupied.Scrubland is well gone, and in its place, professional landscaping.

People are prepared to part with rather large sums to live in Hettyfield. In 2023, St Joseph’s, a home on a generous corner site, sold with Barry Auctioneers for €1.039m. The builders are now in, extending and probably retrofitting – the final cost is anyone’s guess.

The prices people have paid to live in Hettyfield Gardens - as per the Price Register - are on a par with the surrounding area. While plot sizes aren’t as generous, you won’t need to get the builders in or to retro-fit. The homes are A-rated for energy efficiency, with underfloor heating on the ground floor. In terms of fit-out, there’s a PC allowance for kitchen (Hannon Kitchens) and wardrobes, worth €35,000 in total.

Hettyfield Gardens has been selling well. The lowest price paid was €760,000, for a four-bedroom semi (there are four semi-ds, all sold). Of the five detached homes, (also four-beds), three are sold, for sums between €980,000-€1.08m. The two that remain – Nos 7 and 8 – are on the market for €1.125m and €1.1m respectively. The price differential is down to the width of the side access. Otherwise, the houses are identical: four-bedroom homes over 2.5 storeys, with a box dormer in the front roof up top. Good-looking redbricks with attractive aluminium-clad dormers and front door canopies, they both measure 1,900 sq ft. 

Downstairs layout includes open plan kitchen/dining/living room to the rear (utility off kitchen) and a separate living room to the front with a fine big window. 

On the middle floor, two of three bedrooms are en suite, while the entire top floor is devoted to the main bedroom, with open-plan walk-in wardrobe and en suite.

Selling these high-spec homes is Elizabeth Hegarty of Savills and she says they are “in a rare residential development”...within a 10 minute walk of Douglas village, a 10 minute drive to Cork city centre and about 15 minutes by car to Cork Airport.

Those who have already bought in to Hettyfield Gardens include young professionals from Cork, one relocator and one downsizer.

VERDICT: Quality homes in failsafe location.