Residential

Restored original on Victorian square in Dún Laoghaire for €1.5 million

Large four-bedroom terraced house on Crosthwaite Park East has been upgraded and boasts original pitched rooflight on upper landing

Bernice Harrison's face
Bernice Harrison
Thu Nov 13 2014 - 00:00

When the owners of 28 Crosthwaite Park East bought the two-storey-over-basement Victorian house on one of Dún Laoghaire’s original squares, it was in 14 units. That was in 1996 and it was months before they could move in – to just three rooms – and continue turning the 299sq m (3,218sq ft) terraced house into a family home.

They didn’t need to extend – this is a very large house – but they had to restore, re-roof, reinforce walls and reinstate architraves and other period features. They also returned the internal layout to the original. Even up to 10 years ago they were still renovating.

Despite the huge amount of work, they were, they say, lucky because the landlord while developing the units had opted to preserve the period features. It’s now a fully restored home with four bedrooms but, depending on the preference of new owners, it could have more, or indeed less, bedrooms. It has been a rental – to obviously careful tenants – for the past four years and it is now for sale through Sherry FitzGerald for €1.5 million.

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One of the house’s most attractive original architectural features – the large pitched rooflight on the upper landing – was covered over when they bought it, as it is in many two-over-basement house. Now fully restored, it throws light into the upper level as originally intended.

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The layout is as expected, with the kitchen in the basement to the front of the house close to the comings and goings on the square, a large familyroom to the back and another room in the return. Up at hall level, the two fine reception rooms interconnect and there is another large room in the back return.

Upstairs the beautifully proportioned room to the front runs the width of the house and has a deep bay window and a tall sash one, as well as an impressive fireplace.

It would originally have been used as a grand drawingroom – though it could be a vast bedroom. There are three more double bedrooms, two in the returns and the one at the top of the house has lovely views over the rooptops.

The garden at the rear – the house backs onto a mews lane – includes a large workshop. And while the garden is good-sized and there is access to the communal and well-kept square at the front, the owners, who are keen gardeners and want to develop a large organic garden, are moving for more outdoor space.