Internal courtyard is part of the charm at small, perfectly formed, €275k Evergreen Road home 

SHOEHORNING a delightful internal courtyard into a skinny home on a constricted, inner-city site may sound about as do-able as making a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. But it can be done, and done with aplomb, such that the outcome is as much an architectural statement as it is living space. 

To own such a home – and there is one on Evergreen Road - could be to own a property that might in time be visited by inspiration-seeking students of the nearby Centre for Architectural Education on Douglas Street. It’s a fine illustration of what’s possible in a tight city space if you have the capacity to think outside the box.

Pat O’Sullivan of Kiosk Architects can do that blue-sky thinking and Billy, the owner of the Evergreen Road home knew this when he hired him in 2011 to turn what was a “knock job” into quite the design piece.

“I had a 30-year career in property management, going back to the days of Cork Corporation, and we would have used Pat over the years on various projects,” Billy says.

Knowing and liking his work, Billy hired Pat to apply his magic to No 66A Evergreen Road, an artisan cottage once lived in by workers at the nearby Evergreen Bacon Factory, owned by the Murphy family.

“The Murphys had a couple of houses on Evergreen Road for workers and No 66A was the last tenanted house that they owned,” says Billy.

“The daughter of a woman who worked in the factory had the rights to it, until she passed away, when it reverted back to the Murphys, who subsequently sold it,” he adds.

A city kid himself, he’d been on the lookout for something central and pounced on No 66A when it came up for sale in 2010. Location-wise, it was ideal for his job and it was a solid alternative to “a soulless apartment”.

“I didn’t want a soulless apartment with a service charge. It didn’t need to be suitable for children or pets. It was just for me and I wanted it maintenance free, with my own front door, within walking distance of my job, and that’s what I got,” Billy says.

There were plenty of robust exchanges with Pat along the way (he wanted underfloor heating, Billy said no, Billy wanted an outdoor hot tub, and got it, much to Pat’s chagrin).

 But Billy was essentially up for most things and both men sang off the same hymn sheet when it came to the important issues, like light, and how to maximise it. The ingenious solution was a glass-framed, open-to-the-sky internal courtyard at around the midpoint of this one-room-wide house, effectively a king-sized lightwell, bounded by a glass corridor, to illuminate the darker interiors, while also creating that all-important indoor-outdoor space.

 “We spend so much of our lives in Ireland indoors looking out,” says Pat and so the courtyard offers the reverse. It also divides the ground floor living space, reducing the sense of living in a long, narrow galley.

The courtyard throws light forward to the kitchen/dining room, at the front of the house, and back towards the living room or “pod” at the rear, which was extended backwards, into the garden, with tonnes of soil dug out to accommodate it. 

The entire back wall is glazed and the living room benefits greatly.

 Between courtyard and glazed rear wall, there’s light in both directions and you can look right through from front to back if the door to the pod is open “so that there’s a nice visual connection throughout the ground floor”, says Pat.

 Such an effect doesn’t come cheap “but the end product is a lot better if you can stretch to it”, Pat adds.

Key features of the pod are the warm and timeless built-in units and the wooden steps up to a sliding patio door that leads to the paved rear garden.

 Back towards the front of the house, a sleek Kube kitchen with cream quartz worktop has lost none of its appeal over the years.

 It doesn’t hold a candle though to the showstopping cast concrete staircase where a sandstone aggregate was added with masterly effect.

“It would survive a nuclear war,” says Billy, who appreciates the effort that Pat put into it. It gives way to open-tread steps and steel as you ascend the stairs.

Up top, the ceiling was raised in what is the only bedroom and a roof light and wall window were installed.

 The style quotient heightens in the upstairs bathroom, with its large rainhead shower and two glazed recessed windows.

Billy’s decision to leave a home tailor-made to suit his own taste (“minimalist’, he says) has been a tough one, but an operation that cost him a leg in 2015 has forced him to look for somewhere more suitable.

“It’s the type of house you would love in your 20s but you wouldn’t have the money to do anything with it. I had it in my 50s and I had the money to do what I wanted, but it’s totally unsuitable for me now,” he says.

When he was in better health he got maximum enjoyment from it, from the hot tub (now covered in) in the landscaped two-tier back garden, to the internal courtyard which once had a tree in it (and could have again) to the open plan layout, to the visibility right through the house (passersby can’t see in thanks to tinted glass and blinds).

“It’s been idyllic, I loved living there. I wanted a house that was like an apartment, with my own front door, close to town and to Turner’s Cross, where I am from. It wanted it to be bright, open and child-unfriendly, and that’s what I got.” “The whole point of the design and the décor was that it wouldn’t date and that has worked. I’ve done very little with it since it was built, apart from changing the colour pops (they were lime green) and it looks as good as it ever did,” Billy says.

He’s set for a return to Turner’s Cross and more wheelchair-friendly living, and so, after a couple of years of renting his Evergreen Road property, he’s put it, reluctantly, on the market. Doing the honours for him is Amy Crosse of Behan, Irwin & Gosling.

Its price point and strong energy rating – €275,000 guide/B3 - are attracting first time buyers, who will be eligible for green mortgage rates.

“I’m seeing a lot of first time buyers, single people, and also couples downsizing. The property is currently under offer at €285,000,” the agent says.

Ms Crosse describes the 92 sq m home as “a blend of stylish sophistication and exceptional functionality”.

She says the location is excellent, just minutes from Cork city centre, in a neighbourhood undergoing significant rejuvenation.

VERDICT:  Architectural gems like this one don't often come to market priced for first time buyers. Masterful example of what can be achieved on a tight site with a bit of vision and ingenuity.