What was reckoned to have been the best apartment when the 20-unit former bonded warehouse conversion scheme Stone Court was developed has come for sale for its private owners, a couple.
The Stone Court development was undertaken by Kerry-based David and Sheila Crowe, of Oyster Developments, who did niche and high-end projects in Cork and Killarney.
Stone Court was one of the more challenging, as it involved working around former bonded warehouses/stores that dated back a century and a half and which were built in a mix of limestone.
Associated day one with the distilling industry, and with a location at the bottom of Trafalgar Hill/Lover’s Walk in Cork’s wider Montenotte district, the bonded warehouses were possibly sited here because of their proximity to the the rail line at Tivoli. Fast forward and a whole new residential district, with new rail links out of, and through, Cork city to East Cork via Tivoli, is in the planning pipeline.
Already catching home-hunters’ eyes is the three-bedroomed, 1,300 sq ft duplex apartment, No 8 Stone Court, in the main gable-fronted section of the old warehouse, notable for its tripartite top-floor window, both an internal and external feature of the B-rated home and in pride of place in the top floor’s en-suite main bedroom. It also comes with two side balconies.
No 8’s entered from a rear courtyard/car-parking area, where there’s a reserved parking spot and the main floor is home to a hall, utility/guest WC, bedroom/home office, plus en-suite bedrooms.
The main, 3.4m by 7.9m (11’ by 25’) living room/kitchen’s here, too, with a carpeted spindle staircase connecting this level via a hall up to the spacious, top-floor bedroom suite, with walk-through wardrobe/dressing area, and the balconies’ east/west views, while the bed faces the original arched window in three sections.
Selling agent is Brian Olden, of Cohalan Downing, who prices the immaculate and distinctive one-off at €350,000, and he says “it’s getting massive interest already, from first-time buyers and traders-down: The lot.”
VERDICT: Spirited Leeside living made easy, in a gated development within a level, flat walk of the city centre.