Attic conversion is a winner at €520k energy-wise stylish Leamlara home

AN assortment of energy-smart features means the bi-monthly electricity bill at this Leamlara home is highly favourable - c €70 - roughly the cost of powering a two-month daily shower habit. It’s an impressively efficient result in such a spacious property (307 sq m), where two people were working from home.

 Helping to keep bills down are 10 solar panels, new A-rated windows, a new condenser boiler, and a new mechanical heat-recovery ventilation system, all installed in the past five years, since the owner bought the house in Dundellerick in 2020.

His investment in the property — which was built in 2006 — extended well beyond energy upgrades. It had been vacant for half a dozen or so years and had all the signs of it.

He set to work modernising doors and windows, replacing kitchen worktops, adding wall panelling, and refreshing the paintwork. 

His most ambitious change was to convert the attic, now reached by a floating staircase.

“Being a bungalow, I was worried that a standard staircase would darken the hall, so I went with a floating oak staircase, with a steel spine and glass banister, which I helped design,” he says.

The attic is voluminous, divided into a terrific living room, with a herringbone floor, well lit by half-a-dozen skylights.

 At the opposite side of the staircase is the principal bedroom/suite, with more than a hint of luxury. It includes a walk-in-wardrobe and an ultra-chic en suite.

The remaining four bedrooms — two en suite — are downstairs. The owner says it’s been a fabulous home to host visitors.

“I’m originally for Wexford, so it was a great house to have family down. We had enough bedrooms and plenty of entertainment space.”

That entertainment space includes a great, big, open-plan kitchen/family/dining-cum-sunroom. 

Wood to fuel the stove in the cosy family room came from the 0.6-acre site, which was heavily overgrown when the owner bought it.

 He’s tidied it up impressively, exposing a patio that was “buried under grass” in the rear garden. 

Double doors open from the sunroom to the rear, to countryside views.

As well as being a great house for hosting, the owner brought his own flair to the entertainment, by way of a grand piano.

“I studied in Maynooth and there was a grand piano behind the stage in the Aula Maxima. I asked if I could have it. It’s been in storage and restored and restrung. I suppose, like the house, I like bringing things back to life,” he says.

He had room, too, for a home office, where a 3-D, wall-mounted world map is the perfect backdrop for someone who works in international finance.

Everything is neat as a new pin, including the garden, where there’s great privacy.

Adrianna Hegarty, of Hegarty Properties, is selling the five-bedroom Leamlara home, located about 15 minutes from Midleton town.

“People love it as soon as they step over the threshold. It’s an incredibly well-finished house,” says Ms Hegarty, whose guide price is €520,000.

Among those looking are families from the immediate area, as well as people with jobs in Midleton and Carrigtwohill (15 minutes away), and Cork city (half-hour drive).

VERDICT: High-spec, energy-efficient home with a glut of living space.