Rare corner site on Howth Road has endless potential

Redpark, 149 Howth Road, Clontarf, at the corner of Stiles Road, last came on the market in the 1970s when it was bought by a growing family. That is the market at which this substantial detached house is firmly aimed once again – this time as an executor’s sale. DNG is the agent and the price is €1.1 million.

This stretch of the Howth Road is lined with large detached houses – the ones on the opposite side of the road are well set back and separate from each other.

Number 149 was built in the late 1920s or the early 1930s to an unusual design – a two-storey double bay with a garage to the side. By the 1970s, a previous owner had already extended the solid redbrick, building a room over the garage so that now Redpark has seven bedrooms with 300sq m of space.

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 3

The new owners will almost certainly embark on an extensive modernisation programme which could include incorporating the garage into living accommodation. It is also most likely that the number of bedrooms will be rationalised during the renovation as modern en suites are created for the larger bedrooms.

Downstairs there are three reception rooms, each with lovely period timber and tile fireplaces and two with dual aspect looking out to the mature garden which wraps around the house. The bay windows give the two rooms at the front extra space. The room on the right of the hall is used as a formal dining room and has a parquet floor. The eat-in kitchen is dated and prime for a makeover but even without extending, it is a good size with a separate utility room.

The house next door, which was in very poor condition and for sale for some time, has recently been sold and demolished to make way for two detached two-storey houses currently under construction – the builders who only got planning permission in May lost no time in getting started to catch the market in this popular area.

As Redpark is on a large site on a corner it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that it might be bought for development.

There is off-street parking for a couple of cars and this could be enlarged by paving over part of the front garden.