Interiors flair is a family affair at €625,000 Kerry Pike home

WITH a magazine-worthy interior, this Kerry Pike home looks like it might have starred as the showhouse in the O’Flynn Group’s 144-home Clonlara scheme.

Actually it didn’t, but maybe the developers missed a trick, given the terrific interiors flair on display.

The homeowner didn’t lick it off a stone. Both her mother and father are interior designers, and to misquote Pat Rabitte’s Marc McSharry putdown, that talent didn’t skip a generation.

A deft hand and a keen eye created a look that most us couldn’t replicate, let alone mastermind ourselves. While many spend a small fortune on colour cards, this homeowner had the nous to introduce two-tone rooms.

If you were told the main reception room had pink and lavender overtones, you might think it a bit risky.

It works beautifully, because all of the fabrics in the room pick up on those hues.

 It’s a big bright room too and gets back-to-front sunlight, as it overlooks both front and rear gardens. Patio doors ensure natural light is at a premium.

Another set of patio doors connect to outdoors from the kitchen/dining room, taking full advantage of the rear south-facing aspect.

Vivid pops of orange compliment mid-grey kitchen presses which have under-unit lighting. Counter tops are quartz. A separate island is a natural divider between kitchen and dining.

A family room to the front of the house provides further striking colour combinations. 

There’s a utility on the ground floor too, and a guest WC.

Overhead, the main bedroom has an en suite and walk-in wardrobe/dressing room and a second bedroom also has an en suite.

While the family at No 113 Clonlara are heading off to a bigger home, the one they leave behind is also an upsizer. Detached and with four bedrooms, it measures more than 1800 sq ft. It comes with a trading-up price tag too, of €625,000.

The first Clonlara homes came to market five years ago and while re-sales are few, price hikes have been steep. No 22 was one of the early-phase sales, making €450,000 in 2018. It re-sold last year for €702,500 (it was bigger than No 113). That’s a 56% price hike. No 34 took a big jump also, up 33%, to €700,000, from €525,000 when it first sold in 2019 . Recently, No 111 went sale agreed in the low €700,000s.

No 113 has a guide of €625,000, having sold to its current owners in December 2020 for €472,500.

Selling agent Lawrence Sweeney of Savills says it has “all the bells and whistles” of a trade-up home.

“Everything is top quality and there are a lot of additional fixtures and fittings like timber-panelled walls in the hallway and in one of the bedrooms, underfloor heating on the ground floor and an air-to-water heating system,” Mr Sweeney says.

Moreover with an A3 energy rating, the house is “highly efficient and cheap to run”, he adds.

Outdoor space is generous.

 To the rear are patio and a perfectly-mowed lawn, to the front there is parking on a cobble lock driveway. The location of the house is good too: Tucked into a cul-de-sac with minimal traffic and with greens for kids to play on.

Mr Sweeney expects strong interest from families trading up, including senior employees of multinational tech giant Apple, as Kerry Pike is less than 20 minutes from its Hollyhill HQ. He says the last two house sales in the development generated “huge interest” among Apple employees “who want to be close to work”.

Kerry Pike has the benefit of a “country feel, while still being just 15 minutes from Cork city,” Mr Sweeney says.

VERDICT: Beautifully presented, good-as-new trade-up home, in a rapidly-evolving location, where the distance to the city outskirts is shrinking.