The views aren't the only drama at this €620k Sunday's Well home

BARBRA Streisand vocals are not necessary to drive the message home at No 12 Lower Janemount: On a clear day, you can see forever.

Pan west from the large outdoor deck to Cork County Hall; pan east to the Elysian; look down to the immaculately mowngrounds of Cork County Cricket Club. Just beyond that pristine patch of green are the doll’s house homes of Western Road, miniaturised by distance.

Closer to home in Sunday’s Well, on a rocky outcrop, is the sandstone magnificence of St Vincent’s Church and missionary house. Secular sounds have replaced the music of the liturgy as UCC’s Department of Music is now in situ. The church was deconsecrated in 2016 and the Vincentians are well gone.

The drama of this cityscape can be viewed in glorious technicolour from the large open-plan living area of No 12 and from the deck that complements it. It’s like a stage above the city, which seems apt, as one half of the couple living there is a theatre artist and the other half, her husband, is a visual artist. Both teach at Cork colleges.

They fell in love with the “amazing space”at No 12 — nearly 2,000 sq ft - when they first viewed the Lower Janemount property, in front of Blair’s Hill nursing home, in 2008.

“The amount of space was the key raw material that we had. After that, it was quite straightforward, really,” says the woman of the house.

“We just had to decide how to reconfigure it.” Most of 2009 was spent re-arranging the layout.

 Walls were knocked to the rear of the hall to open up the kitchen; a curved arch in the main open-plan area was squared off to widen the room slightly; glazed double doors were installed in a wall between the main living space and the rear dining room to funnel light through and to open it up to the view.

Original, solid-oak floorboards were stripped of an “orangey” hue back to their more mellow selves. Doors and windows were replaced by high-quality alternatives.

The entire house was insulated internally, including the attic.

“It was quite a cold house when we bought it, but with the work we did, we got it up to a C2,” the couple say.

The house is south-facing and very much plays to its aspect. The couple replaced windows overlooking the deck with a sliding glass door. 

The amount of south-facing glazing results in excellent solar gain.

“It’s a very warm, comfortable house now,” they say, despite two open fireplaces in both the main living space and the rear dining room, which the couple use as a “quiet room”.

They’ve moved dining into the main open-plan space.

“It’s fantastic when we have visitors. It’s such a great entertainment space and people can spill out onto the deck. And they can admire the view from inside and out,” the couple say.

The kitchen, to the rear (there’s a small yard off it), is connected to the original dining room.

The kitchen units, in powder blue, with solid wood worktops, were fitted by the couple after the space was reconfigured.

A huge skylight and a glazed back door ensure good light levels. The nearby open tread staircase does likewise. One of their favourite spaces — “there’s nice energy” — is the bright hallway with raised ceiling, generous skylight and glazed front door.

A giant banana plant adds a touch of the exotic. A series of storage cupboards in the back hallway add practicality. The visual artist’s handiwork adds colour.

Upstairs, no reconfiguring took place. The best view in the entire house (the deck, recently re-laid, takes some beating) is from the main bedroom.

.The clarity through the two large windows is spectacular on the day that the Irish Examiner visits, so you can only imagine a clear night sky.

The main room has an en suite (minus a shower). The main bathroom is upstairs, too, and the guest bedroom has a full en suite. The remaining two bedrooms are in use as artists’ studios, one of which runs the depth of the house. 

Outside, the steep garden is tiered, with a gate (and small garage) at street level.

 The woman of the house says her husband is “at his happiest in the garden”.

A resident of Upper Janemount gave them lots of good planting advice. A bamboo screen rises to one side of the patio, wisteria buds are appearing over the sliding door, and a fig tree and a giant cactus vie with the banana plant for most exotic attraction.

Elsewhere, tulips, roses, hollyhocks and foxgloves will appear across the tiers during the changing seasons.

The couple has created quite the oasis in this narrow, elevated cul de sac, where community spirit is alive and kicking. The couple say they’ve made very good friends in Janemount, and they’ll be sorry to move on. It’s a secluded spot, full of birdsong and the occasional thwack of a cricket ball against a willow bat.

“We’ll be very sad to leave. We love the house and we love living in Sunday’s Well, close to the both the city centre and to Fitzgerald’s Park. We can be at the Opera House in 10 minutes.

“But we want to take on a house from scratch. We helped my brother when he did his home up from scratch in Limerick and we really enjoyed it,” the couple say.

“It’s a creative project and that’s the kind of thing we like,” the woman of the house adds.

David Donovan, of Sherry FitzGerald, says it would be “easy to forget” how central the house is, “given the sense of privacy and seclusion”. 

Having recently gone sale agreed on another Janemount home, he has seen who is interested and predicts UCC academics. Medics are likely, too, as the Mercy University Hospital is a short stroll down hill.

“Everything Cork City has to offer is within easy reach,” Mr Donovan says.

Parking options include the small garage,the terrace or the main road.

The agent’s guide price for No 12 is €620,000.

VERDICT: All the world’s a stage from this lofty perch. South facing aspect and the views that go with it are stars of the show.