Tastily extended €450,000 home in Midleton's version of The Cotswolds

PONYING up for gem-studded pepper grinders or super-expensive Nespresso machines can be the fate of wedding guests hamstrung by the happy couple’s gift wish list.

Of far greater value are the gifts that carry emotional significance, in which time and effort were invested, such as the solid wood internal ground floor doors at No 60 The Cotswolds, made by the handy dad of the groom. 

A Kerry-based woodturner, this artisan dad also made the couple’s dining table and bench, as well as the solid wood breakfast bar counter top and the feature beam over the open arch that signifies where the dining area ends and the main front living room begins.

“The downstairs doors were a wedding present from my dad, he made them by hand,” says Adrian O’Donovan, who owns this Midleton home along with his wife Julie.

The beam and the breakfast bar counter top were later additions, after the couple carried out renovations. They started by removing the wall between the main living room and the dining area. By 2019, with the family expanding, they decided to build out to the rear.

“We bought the house in 2011, but as the family expanded, things got a bit tight, so we added a second living area, mainly for the kids,” says Adrian.

The 400 sq ft L-shaped extension turned the existing L-shape into a large, open-plan rectangle, including dining/kitchen and new living area.

 From this living area, generous double doors along the back wall slide open to a patio and rear garden. Adrian, originally a bricklayer, laid the patio. 

The sliding doors, from Munster Joinery, are A-rated. So are the anthracite grey windows, which replaced the originals, in 2020. The same year, the main family bathroom and the couple’s en suite were renovated and upgraded.

Having enlarged and enhanced their 24-year-old home, including pumping cavity walls, installing a solid fuel stove and upgrading the boiler, all of which improved the energy rating to a B3, making buyers eligible for cheaper green mortgage rates, the family is moving on.

“An opportunity came up and we are going to take it, we’ll be sticking around Midleton, it’s where Julie is from,” Adrian says.

Selling the 153 sq m four-bedroom semi-d, where planning permission is in place for an attic extension, is Kyle Kennedy of Hegarty Properties and he says it’s “exceptionally well presented”.

“It’s a rare opportunity to buy in this sought-after estate, where not many homes come up for re-sale,” Mr Kennedy says.

For sure, there’s an upwardly mobile ring to the name of the estate, where greens are plentiful and houses well-spaced and where an active residents’ association keeps on eye on the upkeep.

It’s on the right side of town for travelling to Cork – the N25 is a two minute drive away – and for travelling to East Cork beaches, while also being within walking distance of several schools.

As it’s been extended, Mr Kennedy expects interest from families trading up, but also from buyers trading down from large homes in the countryside.

When the house last sold in 2011, the sale price was €240,000. Fourteen years later, the extended version has a guide price of €450,000.

VERDICT: interest likely from those living in smaller properties in The Cotswolds. Stylish family trade-up.