Classic charm meets modern potential in this Upper Kensington home for sale at €495k

THERE’S a mix of detached house sizes, styles, and finishes at Cork’s Upper Kensington, an upmarket development (the aspirational, upwardly mobile intention was in the name, shadowing London’s Kensington, perhaps?) of solid, two-storey family homes now about 50 years old and built in what was then ‘out in the sticks’ at the top of Clarke’s Hill in Rochestown.

The many dozens of Cork Kensington detacheds are arranged out on quite spacious sites, in two sections above the Rochestown Road, Lower and Upper, but they have separate entrances: one’s off Coach Hill (Lower Kensington, where developer Noel Parkes built his own, far larger home) and this, Upper Kensington, off Clarkes Hill.

Since they were built in the 1970s, the city has certainly spread its tentacles past suburban Douglas, up and over the hills and out towards Passage West, with higher densities and a wider mix of house types and styles reflecting the tastes and housing needs of the various decades.

Just witness the scale of the adjacent Mount Oval Village, with over 840 homes done over a 20+ year time span on 110 acres by O’Flynn Construction, along with local services and more: the wider Rochestown area spans many hundreds of acres, many, many thousands of houses, and indicative of the move with time was the plan (currently stalled) to provide a €25 million nursing home too for local needs along Clarkes Hill, below Kensington.

For younger folk, with growing families, walk-in order homes in the wider area are swift sellers, and set to tap into the demand is No 23 Upper Kensington, a four-bed detached of over 1,570 sq ft, a brick-faced build with contrasting Cork stone… the latter finish was more popular in previous decade than now, while currently on-trend instead is slip stone: might someone looking to update the façade of No 23 in coming years, especially if doing and exterior insulation wrap to bring up its C1 BER, hit after a new replacement boiler was fitted?

It’s price-guided at €495,000 by agent Patricia Stokes, who sold it to its current owners over three years ago, for a recorded €393,000 AMV according to the Property Price Register (Kensington resales are hard to compare generally from the Register as there are several different house styles and façade treatments, and the level of upgrades and extensions also varies considerably. Ms Stokes says No 23 is very well maintained, with bright rooms and “has plenty of potential to enhance its accommodation further,” with an adaptable flow of rooms inside.

Reception rooms interconnect front to back, with the back one also linking to a kitchen/diner, while a slender garage conversion to the side allows for a home office/playroom to the front, plus a utility.

Unusually, there’s access to the former ’garage’ roof above those rooms behind brick parapets if new occupants have a use for its? Right now, it’s accessed off the stairs/landing, with four first floor bedrooms, all doubles, plus a main family bathroom.

VERDICT: Proven location