No tricks, just treats at the €750,000 home of Gladys Leach's granddaughter 

A COUPLE with an affinity for the hilly side of Cork city, specifically the St Lukes area, which provided artistic inspiration to one of their grandparents, Cork artist Gladys Leach, seized upon the chance to live there when a house came up in 2011.

No 4 Alexandra Terrace, built in the late 1900s by publicans the Henchy family, was in rag order, but was nonetheless the real period deal.

Kate and Paul could see beyond the green carpets and shiny brown wallpaper to the period detail and recognised it as an unpolished gem. Its garage would later play a cameo role in Irish road movie, The Young Offenders, of which more anon.

When the couple heard their bid had been accepted while holidaying in Amsterdam, they celebrated in a manner granny Gladys would have approved of. Kate bought a sketch of a bike, now on display in the kitchen of No 4. Paul bought a miniature Dutch ceramic cow that looks down from the kitchen units towards the beautiful canted bay window that offers up magnificent views of the city below.

In a neat symmetry, St Luke’s Church, sketched in magnificent detail by Kate’s granny, is part of that view. The well-known artist, who passed away 10 years ago, almost to the day, was famous for her line drawings of historic city buildings, among them the former Anglican church at the crest of Summerhill North.

 Today, Kate, Paul and their two kids, have their own clear perspective of the same building , now a live music venue, from their platform above St Luke’s Cross.

“My granny used to sketch this part of the city a lot. The irony is we ended up living near one of the scenes that she sketched,” says Kate, whose own eye for detail is topnotch. She’s a dab hand with a paintbrush too: her own work stands up among the many lovely paintings that decorate the walls of No 4.

The couple’s three-storey, end-of-terrace property is an exemplar of how to restore a period home with just the right level of architectural intervention. Part of a terrace of four built in the 1880s, it’s stayed true to its Victorian roots  canted bay windows, lofty ceilings, moulded render details, some original fireplaces), but it’s also been re-purposed just enough to embrace contemporary living.

 Its neighbours on the terrace have all been rejuvenated too, but No 4 has something they don’t have: windows in the side gable on the two upper stories. It means key rooms are double aspect, a massive boon for light and views.

“We were very lucky to find it,” the couple say of No 4. Both were keen on the neighbourhood, having previously lived on Richmond Hill. Paul had also lived near St Lukes for a short while when staying with cousins as a child.

“We liked the vibe and the walkability and the fact that it was in an older part of the city,” Paul says.

Having engaged Niamh Marum of Niamh Marum Architects to refashion aspects of the property, work on their home began in earnest in 2013. It was completed in six to seven months. “We went in really hard, we’d a good engineer and builder and it was all done in one burst,” says Kate.

“It was a huge job, it was nearly like knocking a house and rebuilding it,” she adds.

Among the litany of changes was the addition of a substantial rear extension; the replacement of windows and doors; re-wiring, re-plumbing and roof renovation.

 The house was dry-lined and a radon barrier laid. There’s underfloor heating on the ground floor and just last year, the couple installed a new gas-fired central heating system, and a striking new kitchen.

 The energy efficiency rating is now a C3, which is pretty good going for a 140-year-old home. The draughts endured by previous occupants – among them furniture mover Nat Ross, according to the 1922 Census – are a thing of the past.

“It’s funny how a business owner lived here. I also own my own business and so I love that entrepreneurial connection,” says Kate, who values her home’s proximity to Cork Chamber of Commerce’ HQ on Summerhill North, as well as to the Clarion Hotel where she hosts business meetings.

“Moreover, if I have meetings in Dublin, I can walk down to the train station,” she says.

Cityside convenience is a big plus in St Lukes. The location was ideal for the Henchy family when they built Alexandra Terrace. Their place of business was a stroll down the road – John Henchy & Sons pub, built in the 1850s and still an integral part of the social fabric of St Lukes Cross.

“We love that link to the community and history of the area. We are deeply connected to the community but we also have our privacy, which we love,” says Kate.

The decision to block off the original entry point to the house (which is reversible) reinforced that sense of privacy. As the front garden is south-facing (it looks over the roof of a hotel called The Address previously The Ambassador), the couple did the sensible thing and put their patio out front, closing off the front gate and steps to the original front door.

 The entry point is now to the side, off Alexandra Road, through a door in a long stone wall along the property’s boundary. It leads into a paved courtyard, enclosed between the kitchen and the extension, which houses a playroom/home-office/music room.

“When the kids were smaller we could keep an eye on them from the kitchen because it looks straight across to the playroom and we could see them at the lego table, through the patio doors,” Kate says.

While the side door brings you into the east-facing courtyard (great for coffee on a sunny morning), you can move freely down to the front patio or up to the tiered garden via the passage at the side of the house, thanks to its end-of-terrace spot. Paul, whose background is legal, likes to hang out. literally, in the rear garden.

“It’s his favourite place, lying in a hammock, taking in the views out over the city, or reading a book on a sunny day,” says Kate.

It’s a decent rear garden, done in tiers, with some paving, a sitting out area, a couple of trees and room for a trampoline.

 Surrounded on two sides by a lovely old stone wall, it’s also home to a garage with rear lane access and a roller shutter door, which the couple installed. The garage’s claim to fame is that it featured in Irish road movie The Young Offenders. More than one scene was shot in the St Lukes area: the cat flap at No 3 Windsor Place on Ballyhooley Road, where director Peter Foott was temporarily in residence, also featured.

Down steps from the rear garden is the courtyard which leads to the new front door to No 4, imported from the UK, bigger than standard, with an extra-large handle.

A window twice as wide as the door, but the same height, overlooks the hallway that leads into the extension. Both hallway and extension are brightly lit thanks to extensive glazing. The guest WC is to the rear of the hall, and beyond it is the multifunctional extension.

It’s hard to over-egg just how good a job Kate and Paul have done of restoring the charms of this 186 sq m townhouse, looking its very best under expert staging advice from family friend Gillian Lawlee, an interiors guru returned home from LA after years of styling for some big-name clients.

It’s an incredibly light-filled home, packed with colour, warmth and texture, the polar opposite of the down-at-heel property they purchased 13 years.

It’s hard to choose its best feature, but among the front-runners (view and aspect excluded) are the warm red antique-brick wall in the main open plan area; the careful alignment of an end-of-stairs window with the fully glazed front door so that anyone coming down the stairs is looking straight through to the city view; the vivid, double aspect morning room on the middle floor (Kate’s favourite place); the double aspect bathroom with its bright yellow floor and views from the bath of Ballyhooly Road; the top floor main bedroom where Kate likes to sit in the window and watch all the activity on the busy River Lee; the main bedroom en suite which has a glass wall.

The glass wall came about as part of the re-arrangement of room layout which involved a change in the landing spaces.

A lot of steel was installed to accommodate a towering skylight that lets light down through the top two levels of the house. That light funnel illuminates the glass wall of the en suite.

The work done on No 4 has produced a best-in-class period townhouse which Lawrence Sweeney of Savills is selling on the couple’s behalf as they prepare for a lifestyle move to Co Waterford.

“I do expect huge interest as all of the heavy lifting has been done and new owners will reap the benefits,” says Mr Sweeney.

The house, he says, is a terrific blend of “rich Victorian heritage and modern chic” and has been “thoughtfully renovated to meet the highest modern standards, while preserving its historic charm”.

“The location is very special and the fact that No 4 has off-street parking, with rear access, is a real boost,” the agent says.

Mr Sweeney expects interest from “lots of types of buyers, including ex-pats, and from people who want a period home in the city centre without the hassle, time and expense of doing it up”.

He adds that the city centre is a short stroll downhill, while well-stocked St Luke’s Cross is on the doorstep.

The guide price for No 4 is €750,000.

VERDICT: Attractively priced, expertly extended, best-in-class period townhouse. Expect stiff competition between traders up, ex-pats and re-locators. Views and aspect are as handsome as the house itself.