Residential

Ripe for conversion on the canal

Returning this delightful house on the Grand Canal back to use as a family home looks straightforward – planning permission has already been obtained

Bernice Harrison's face
Bernice Harrison
Thu Sep 17 2015 - 05:00

Despite the shortage of office space in central Dublin it’s likely that the new owners of 6 Percy Place will want to convert the redbrick detached house beside the Grand Canal back into a single family home.

That’s what it was up to 20 years ago when its current owner, an architect, bought it and converted it to mixed-use– offices downstairs, an apartment upstairs. It’s easy to see how it has worked well as both: as an office it’s perfectly located in Ballsbridge, close to Baggot Street and the city, and as a place to live with its views over the canal and convenient location, it would suit buyers at any stage of their life. However, looking at the ivy covering its walls it just seems simply too charming a building to stay as an office.

It’s a house that will be familiar to anyone who passes along the canal regularly, because while from the front at Percy Place, it looks much as it did when built in 1910, from the rear where it backs onto the canal it is obviously a building that has been renovated and extended in recent years – it now has 161sq m (1,730sq ft) – although the brick appears to be reclaimed and so fits perfectly into the original structure.

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Painless

Converting it back into single use looks a relatively painless proposition – planning permission has already been obtained, and buyers can see the new set of architect’s drawings showing how it can become a three bedroom house.

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At present it is rented to an architect’s firm, and their work areas have colonised upstairs where the apartment used to be. There are two entrances – the original door on one side and on the other a glazed entrance. The new plans suggest the original door will once again be the house entrance, while the office entrance will become a sunroom.

Terrace

The three bedrooms will be upstairs – with the added bonus of access out to a terrace looking down on the canal, while downstairs the light-filled extension at the rear which opens onto a tiny courtyard looks to be the perfect location for an eat-in kitchen.

In the new plans the living room is to the front, with a separate diningroom.

6 Percy Place, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 is for sale by Felicity Fox for €950,000 .