{"id":531463,"date":"2026-07-03T17:40:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T17:40:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/531463\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T17:40:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T17:40:11","slug":"imaginative-owners-and-smart-design-at-e740k-cork-city-home","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/531463\/","title":{"rendered":"Imaginative owners and smart design at \u20ac740k Cork city home\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

The personality traits you might associate with an architect \u2014 creativity, persistence, an aptitude for spatial reasoning \u2014 have filtered down through two generations to the owner of No 9 Hazel Hill, high up on Maryborough Ridge.<\/p>\n

While she is not an architect, her grandfather was and the approach she took to her own home suggests a knack for the kind of problem-solving architects are good at.<\/p>\n

Rather than settling for a builder\u2019s kitchen with PC allowance, she went down the bespoke route and worked with Midleton-based O\u2019Driscoll Kitchens.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew early on what we wanted, so that helped,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

What they wanted was an island, a tea\/coffee station with fold-away doors, an extractor fan over the island-based hob, and a hardwood kitchen.<\/p>\n

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Because of the kitchen\u2019s size and shape, a peninsula worked better than a freestanding island, but the owner did get her tea station with fold-away doors. A false ceiling was installed over the hob to house the extractor fan. A mirrored splashback adds depth and is the next best thing to \u2018eyes in the back of your head\u2019 for parents. The overall look is sleek.<\/p>\n

In the living room \u2014 open plan to kitchen\/dining \u2014 a long radiator was removed to free up wall space and a plinth heater installed in the recess beneath built-in storage drawers, which are topped with a continuous timber bench for additional seating. The freed-up wall space meant room to install a TV. The drawers, bench, and utility (with sink) were all custom made by O\u2019Driscoll Kitchens, who also built a cabinet to conceal pipework in the utility.<\/p>\n

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The owner\u2019s visual imagination (handy for her career in web development) came in to play upstairs, too: A \u201cwasted\u201d space at the end of the bath in the main bathroom is now a multi-functional storage unit.<\/p>\n

Outside in the south-facing rear garden, she worked with garden experts Perennial Landscapes to create a low-maintenance, child-friendly, tiered garden, with patio. Some greenery around the heat pump \u2014 ubiquitous in the gardens of new estates \u2014 has softened the visual impact, without restricting airflow. \u201cI\u2019m no gardener, but it looks good,\u201d the owner says.<\/p>\n

Back indoors, there are high ceilings, wraparound glazing in the front room and rear family room, a balcony off the main bedroom, and a best-in-class A1 energy rating, aided by 17 solar panels (and low utility bills).<\/p>\n

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A great deal of thought went into just about everything at No 9 Hazel Hill, a generous, 155sq m detached four-bed in a niche development of 21 units, on the upper rim of Maryborough Hill, with a rural backdrop, but close-to-city convenience, including a 24-hour bus service, quick access to Douglas village, schools, and the South Ring Rd.<\/p>\n

Jeremy Murphy, of Jeremy Murphy & Associates, says the reaction has been \u201cvery positive\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a stunning property and we are mainly seeing families looking to trade up,\u201d he says, adding that his favourite feature is the bedroom balcony with terrific Cork City views.<\/p>\n

The price for No 9 is \u20ac740,000.The owners are relocating closer to their roots.<\/p>\n

\n VERDICT: A good example of smart design, as befits a home owned by two web developers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The personality traits you might associate with an architect \u2014 creativity, persistence, an aptitude for spatial reasoning \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":531464,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[307,304,305,306,308,93,626,61,60],"class_list":["post-531463","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-house-prices-mortgages-estate-agents-cork-munster","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531463","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531463"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531463\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/531464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531463"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531463"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531463"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}