Bright upgraded Victorian four-bed on Brighton Road for €1.35m

The Victorian-era builder who constructed the short terrace at one end of Rathgar’s Brighton Road made good use of the site when designing number 75; he installed tall sash windows in the side of the house so that several rooms are dual aspect and have views out over Brighton Square. As the corner site wraps around to the square – the property’s off-street parking is accessed here – the owners of this house, unusual for properties on the road, have access to the private railed square, for a small annual fee, with its tennis courts and grassy play areas.

The house was in three flats when the current owners bought it, and they brought the two-storey 165sq m (1,775sq ft) redbrick, which is Ber-exempt, back to single-family use.

Aside from the kitchen in the return, which would once have been a series of small rooms and is now a good-sized eat-in kitchen, they kept close to the original layout. So off the hall the first room is a cosy living room with high ceilings, decorative cornice work, dual aspect and a white marble chimney piece. Then there’s a formal dining room, with its elaborate slate chimney piece – the two reception rooms do not interconnect – and then it’s on down to the kitchen in the return.

Upstairs there are two very large double bedrooms – the one to the front of the house has two tall sashes looking to the front and an third to the side – while the second bedroom looks over the square. The ceilings up here are high and there’s a very spacious feel. There are two further bedrooms, both singles, in the return where the bathroom is located. A guest toilet is under the stairs.

Some original details were missing when they embarked on the their renovation, such as the ceiling rose in the hallway which features typically intricate plasterwork, so that was reinstated and the flooring in the hall is now wide plank timber. An interesting decorative decision that works in houses of this period was to commission wall panelling for the hall walls and up the stairs.

While likely viewers of this property will be families, given its location in an area of very large houses, some three-storey with big gardens, it could also appeal to local downsizers given its layout, easy-to-manage gardens and off-street parking.

The garden is laid out with formal clipped hedging wrapping around from the front to the side and rear. The owners had considered extending the kitchen by building across the rear, and had secured permission for this, but have now decided to move within the area, putting 75 Brighton Road on the market through Mullery O’Gara with an asking price of €1.35 million.