Head over heels in Monkstown for €385,000

The young couple who bought a mid-terrace house in Monkstown Farm, Co Dublin, in 2005 “just fell for it”, says one of the owners. The previous owners had renovated the former Corporation house to create a very bright and stylish two-bed, with smart touches like coloured mosaic tiles in the kitchen and bathrooms and a bright, open-plan kitchen/diningroom opening into a long livingroom.

They paid €560,000 for the 85sq m (904sq ft) house at the height of the property boom and have maintained it well since. Now, with small children, it's time for the couple to move on, and 47 Oliver Plunkett Road, Monkstown, Co Dublin is for sale through DNG for €385,000. That's the price quoted on DNG's website, but agent Dan Steen says it has already had a bid of €388,000.

Prices in the neighbourhood have been rising: number 112 Oliver Plunkett Road, a larger house extended to 115sq m (1,237sq ft) sold for €540,000 in April 2017; number 2 Oliver Plunkett Avenue, another former Corporation house “needing everything doing”, just around the corner from number 47, has just closed at €367,000.

Mosaic tiling

The front door of number 47 opens into a square front hall; a step down opens into a very smart downstairs toilet with mosaic tiling. A glazed door opens into a long livingroom on the right, with a solid oak floor and a small coal-effect gas fire. A very wide arch leads into the open-plan dining/kitchen area.

The dining area is floored with brown tiles; a step up leads to the kitchen, with a white-tiled floor, cherrywood units, granite countertop, mosaic-tiled splashback and a five-ring gas hob. Glazed roof panels over both the kitchen and dining area and floor-to-ceiling patio doors make it a very bright space.

An open oak staircase leads up to a child’s bedroom and the main bedroom, which runs from the front to the back of the house. It has a cast-iron fireplace and a wall of wardrobes.

The cleverly designed upstairs bathroom at the top of the stairs is bigger than expected, with a corner bath, floor-to-ceiling mirrors and a curved corner shower with orange mosaic tiling.

The patio doors from the dining area open into a small but fairly private garden with a lawn, patio area and lots of mature shrubs. There’s room to park two cars in the front garden.

Number 47 is near the Monkstown Avenue end of Oliver Plunkett Road, a few doors away from a well-tended Marian shrine, across the road from a Centra and pharmacy, and a short walk from fishmongers George’s Fish Shop.