Sandymount: Kate McMorrow visits a restored home that could set a record for its street
A refurbished Sandymount house with lots of designer touches and a neutral Farrow & Ball colour scheme is guiding €1.1 million prior to auction on February 26th through Gunne Residential.
In pristine condition, 27 St John's Road is the home of a prominent Dublin 4 estate agent, who is expecting the sale to set a record for the terrace. The last property to sell on this row was the same house, bought almost four years ago. Back then it was in in flats and needed a complete revamp.
Not surprisingly the location is what sold it to the couple. Sandymount Strand is at the end of the road, the village a short walk and Westwood fitness centre backs onto the laneway behind the houses. Two DART stations are within walking distance and the bus terminus is nearby at St John's church.
Four years on, the 154 sq m (1,658 sq ft) house has had everything done: it has been reroofed, rewired and replumbed, a glamorous new extended kitchen/dayroom installed and the attic converted to a study. Floors downstairs are new wide plank oak, although the original floorboards remain underneath. Window frames are PVC.
A smart black front door with stained glass panels opens to a wide hallway with a guest toilet tucked into the stairwell. To the left is a bay-windowed sittingroom with oak flooring and a mahogany mirrored mantelpiece. The walls around the house are painted in Farrow & Ball matchstick, a soft cream that looks well with ivory woodwork, oak floors and leather furniture.
Folding doors to the formal diningroom are left open to provide a dual aspect from front to back. The period fireplace here is identical in proportion to the sittingroom version. French doors open to a broad timber deck. They extended the kitchen along the line of the house, creating a large breakfastroom/dayroom with a bay window and striking beamed ceiling. German-made units with every possible accessory are fitted with integral appliances, including a five-plate steel gas range. Worktops are timber, with cream mosaic tiles forming a splashback.
A small double bedroom on the first floor return has windows on two sides and beech wardrobes. The main bedroom faces front-on the first floor, with a bay window and wall-to-wall beech wardrobes. Behind this is another double bedroom with an en suite shower and gold-plated fittings.
The family bathroom used to be a single bedroom so it's extra-large, with a Jacuzzi bath and power shower, two sinks and a wood-topped vanity unit. The staircase continues to the attic, where a bright space is furnished as a study. Sloped ceilings and roof windows create great atmosphere. Period houses tend to have good gardens: this house has a deep front lawn bordered by neat hedging.
The secluded 25 m/82 ft back garden is north-facing, but a second deck area at the end of the lawn is positioned to catch the westerly sun. There is also spotlighting and a tool shed to house the barbecue. Beyond this, wooden gates open to a laneway which is accessible by car.
