Standing tall on Raglan Road

Five-bed Victorian in Ballsbridge for €3m


There is a sense of Raglan Road’s pedigree – home to many historic and listed Victorian and Edwardian mansions and where building began in 1857 – everywhere in this house. You feel it in the sweep of granite steps to the front door (I counted a dozen), in the three-storey façade rising above, in the high, bright spaces within, in the original marble fireplaces, plasterwork, doors, shuttered windows and, most of all, in the gracious, spacious first-floor drawing room.

The vendor bought number 11, when it was in flats, 15 years ago. He refurbished with care and attention, redefining some rooms, returning others to their original use, making a statement of features such as the original limestone flooring in the hallway. He now lives abroad and is selling through McNally Handy with an asking price of €3 million. Number 31 Raglan Road sold in December 2013 for €2.3 million.

On three storeys over garden level, there are five bedrooms, three reception rooms, kitchen, utility, two bathrooms and shower room over a floor area of 341sq m (3,671sq ft).

Set well back from the road and with a decent rear garden (both style factors of the time), no 11’s coup de grace is the first- floor double drawingroom. The 14ft-high ceilings have elaborately decorative cornicing and ceiling roses. The 12ft- high windows, front and rear, have working shutters. A pair of marble fireplaces add lustre.

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The entrance hallway gets the mood right too, with its limestone-tiled floor and mighty front door fitted with bolts and padlocks. A vaulted recess on the first return has a vaulted window as backdrop.

A livingroom on the hall level leads via double doors to a newly-fitted kitchen with marble fireplace, polished granite worktops, large centre island, cleverly angled fittings and 12ft window over the rear garden.

The rear utility area has an original Shanks sink.

Three bedrooms, including the main one, are on the second floor, with another two at garden level, where there is a separate front entrance.

There is a shower room on the first floor and bathrooms on the second floor return and at garden level.