Stylish apartments in old school conversion

The sympathetic conversion of interesting old buildings into upscale apartments has been fairly rare in this country but increasingly developers are realising there are enthusiastic buyers out there for large apartments with period features in buildings with character.

The Old French School, on Sidmonton Place, Bray, Co Wicklow, is such a conversion. It was bought last year by developer Tony McWilliams, who has divided it into 13 impressive apartments which are for sale through Hamilton Osborne King with prices starting at £145,000.

The lowest price is for the only one-bed in the development. At the other end of the price range is a two-bed duplex costing £265,000, which at 1,214 sq ft is larger than most new three-bedroom houses. As this is a conversion, stamp duty applies.

All the apartments are different because they have been designed around the space available, so some have more windows than others, some have larger en suites and some have bigger kitchen areas. The building was used as a very proper French school for girls from around the turn of the century to the early 1960s. Then it was used by the Department of Lands and finally by Coillte until last year. From the front it looks like two separate houses because two front doors, complete with attractive granite steps can be seen but internally it is one building. The house had several original period features including intricate cornice work, and decorative columns and balustrades. Nearly all of the apartments have grand 12 ft high ceilings.

A particularly nice feature of most of the apartments is that their living-rooms have more than one window and in some cases at least one of the windows is the original highly decorative bay window. All the units have either wooden floors or have been carpeted. In the case of the wooden floors, the developer has sanded and polished the original boards where possible or put down reclaimed floorboards. There are communal gardens and more than one parking space per unit. There is a lift in the scheme.

The most eye-catching apartment is the largest as it has its own front door. It is a duplex and comes complete with interconnecting rooms. The two basement apartments also have their own front doors. Buyers who prefer a sea view can choose one of the top floor apartments which enjoy a splendid view of the sea.