Expensively done up in 2007, classic No 29 Richmond remains a sign of the times, then, and now

A ‘NO expense spared’ deep retrofit, and polished reordering, was done to No 29 Richmond, a discretely hidden bungalow between Cork City’s Blackrock Road and the Boreenmanna Road.

That was back in 2007, at a time when the property market was at its zenith, and builders felt free to charge as much as they liked … a bit like now??

Now a superbly finished three-bedroomed dormer, on a screened, low-maintenance corner site within the 1960s estate of detacheds and semi-detacheds of some design aplomb, with partial cedar cladding, brick and reconstituted stone and latter-day earned charm, No 29 Richmond was taken by the scruff of the neck before 2007 by the late Kate and Tom Burke, who at the time were planning a downsize move from a large, detached period home called Parkhurst on the Victoria Road.

Built for a city solicitor Barry Galvin way back in 1890, on extensive gardens and the only detached along Cork’s Victoria Road, Parkhurst sold at the time for the Burkes for €2.5m: it was described in these property pages as ‘a museum piece.’ Some of the leftover ‘museum quality’ pieces have ended up happily here at 29 Richmond, itself some 70 years Parkhurst’s junior, along with a range of feature stained glass panels, and magnificent Georgian and Victorian furniture.

It was a classic downsize or rightsize move for Kay (nee Lyons, a retired physiotherapist) and Tom Burke: he’d been a general surgeon in Cork hospitals, such as the Bon Secours and South Infirmary: he also operated, literally as well as figuratively, at the army’s Collins Barracks, where he railed against forced army marches (and, marathon running) due to the number of knee surgeries he was had to do, recalls his brother in law, Diarmuid Lyons.

No 29 Richmond is now an executor sale, following Kay Burke’s demise in January after a period in a nursing home in Kinsale; she was predeceased by her husband Tom, who died aged 95 in 2013.

The couple’s pristine, lightly lived in, and proudly maintained home at 29 is listed this weekend with agent Brian Olden of Cohalan Downing, who says it is elegant, in one of Cork’s most desirable suburban enclaves, and was extensively upgraded almost 20 years ago, to a very high standard throughout, from the roof, down to the floors and out to deliberately planted low-maintenance gardens, full of colourful trees and shrubs and birdlife.

Mr Olden can expect downsizer/rightsizer interest from the get-go, but it may also suit a single person, a couple or relocators to Cork: less likely is a younger family.

A lot rides on the current layout now with the very best of the three bedrooms downstairs, with walk-in dressing area, plus separate en suite bathroom with shower, and quality throughout, including granite tops to the bathrooms’ vanity units.

All internal joinery is quality hardwood, with stained glass panels inside a number of doors, both internally, in the main front door and side panels, with more coloured glass sections in the bright and warm south-aspected sunroom, utterly private.

A carpeted stairs, with hardwood rails, leads to two plushly carpeted attic-style dormer bedrooms with eaves storage plus bathroom with shower/bath and heated towel rail, the latter a feature in the en suite’s bathroom also, both also fully tiled in neutral shades.

The hardwood joinery, stained glass, matched with gleaming mahogany Georgian and Victorian furniture, stunning fireplace, black kitchen Aga, displayed books and bookcases, art, sculpture and fine prints and 19th century silhouettes givesNo 29 the air of an older era home, but the comfort factor of modern and efficient central heating, high insulation standards, double glazing, new floors indicates otherwise. As does a B3 energy rating.

No 29 has a bright kitchen, with painted units topped with oiled hardwood tops, Aga, and marble-tiled floor, with two overhead rooflights, with access to a patio, hall, and to a dining nook linked to the main reception room, with its end wall surrounding the fireplace and hearth in a crimson red hue.

Overall, there’s just about 1,750 sq ft here, all spotless and well detailed, so it’s not overly large and if bought by a single buyer or a couple, they could quite happily only live downstairs, apartment style, and keep the first floor for guests/family member visits.

Richmond, which connects to the Clanrickarde estate by the Boreenmanna Road, has long been associated with Cork builder Barry Burke, whose family sold 4.82 acres alongside back in peak times of 2007 to O’Flynn Construction, for a €15.8m — some €3.25m/ acre for the site now fully developed as Belfield Abbey: it’s a price per acre not seen since ‘the boom’….

Other and older homes in adjacent Richmond show a variety of life stage owner-occupiers, from older long-time residents to more recent arrivals with some considerable extensions on both bungalows and semis. One, No 30, sold nearly 20 years ago on a far larger quarter acre site (for a reported €730,000, 50% over its guide: how very 2025), was demolished and replaced with a very large two-storey detached home.

Back in January 2007, we noted here that No 29 Richmond had sold for c€575,000 figure as “a three-bed home in need of upgrading, it had been price-guided at €485,000-plus in late 2005, when it hit the market. It now is being significantly upgraded.”

And so it came to pass.

It’s reckoned that on top of the c €585k purchase price back almost 20 years ago, a further €400,000/500,000 was then invested in it — again, shades of 2025 costs — so it stood the Burkes €1m, or perhaps just over it, to get it to a perfect fit for their advancing years.

Their subsequent strong €2.5m sale of their long-time previous Victorian home Parkhurst in 2007 must have taken the sting out of those costs for the Burkes. And,as for the buyers who paid them so handsomely? Well they are getting much of their outlay back out of it this year as they are selling a 0.85 acre plot with full planning for nine new builds behind the original (and also upgraded) Victoria Road detached Parkhurst for over its €1.55m AMV.

VERDICT: For mostly coincidental reasons, No 29 Richmond itself aligns with a number of signature and landmark mid- 2000s Cork City property market moves: what will its sale now tell us in years to come, about the 2025 market?