A refurbished home has its period details intact and is in walk-in condition. Rose Doyle reports.
Refurbished redbricks in good locations have been the star performers at auction this year, with prices rises well above the average rate of growth. It's no surprise, so, to see Gunne quoting a guide price of €2.4 million on this substantial Edwardian semi on Anglesea Road in Dublin 4.
It sold just two years ago for €955,000, needing full refurbishment. The work done, the house now has a big kitchen extension and five en suite bedrooms. Today's guide price suggests quite a premium for the location, as well as the work that has been done. Certainly, the fact that it will be ready to move into by the new year will appeal to buyers who don't want to have the builders in. The auction date is set for November 25th and Kate Sissons is handling enquiries.
Number 49, on a bend in the road facing the stone-built St Mary's Church, has an impressive façade and a dramatic interior. Built in 1904, the drama is in the dark, tongue and groove panelling of the entrance hallway, as well as the soaring mahogany banisters climbing from the expanse of elaborately decorative tiles. There's drama, too, in the church-like aspect of the arched, leaded glass panels to either side of the entrance door.
The kitchen/breakfastroom, with its vaulted ceilings, arched windows, black and steel fittings and a terracotta floor, has a drama all its own. An extensive and just completed renovation emphasises all of these points and means that number 49 is in walk-in condition. Original sash windows, tiling, panelled doors, wood finishes, cornicing and ceiling roses are intact. Unlike its mostly terraced neighbours, number 49 is semi-detached, brick-made with granite sills and, as it was built to withstand flooding from the nearby Dodder, has three storeys over ground level - most of its neighbours have two storeys over basement level.
The 206 sq m (2,200 sq ft) of space is divided into five en suite bedrooms, two reception rooms, shower room off the hallway and a large kitchen/breakfast/family room. A cellar runs from the front to the rear of the house where the grounds of Merrion Cricket Club, which bound the end of the garden, ensure privacy and views.
The high ceilings on the ground and first floors, as well as the light spilling from windows everywhere, create a sense of space. The main interconnecting reception rooms are ballroom-like, with a deep bay window to the front and long, box window to the rear. Wooden, period-style fireplaces in both rooms are ornate and there is a floor-to-ceiling, walk-in pantry in the rear room.
A white-tiled chimney breast, in what was the original kitchen, has been made a feature of today's family room. Stark in a dark coral wall, it has been fitted with a gas fire. The kitchen/breakfastroom has six Velux windows in its vaulted roof, as well as a couple of church-style arched windows giving views over the cricket grounds.
A large room - 6.2 metres by 4.22 metres - it more than carries off the drama of its extensive black and steel wall and floor fittings. These include a Samsung, American-style, side-by-side fridge/freezer. A side door and stone steps lead to the rear garden and cellar.
Four of the bedrooms have cast-iron fireplaces. Three of them, including the main one, are on the first floor with the other two on the third floor. The third floor front bedroom has a vaulted ceiling and arched window overlooking St Mary's Church. The main bedroom has long windows to the front and a fireplace with yellow tulips in the tiled inset. There is a ceiling rose and coving which is carried through to the en suite. With a second door giving access from the landing, this doubles as a family bathroom and has a long window, free-standing bath, separate shower and a cream-painted cast-iron fireplace.
There is vehicular access to the rear garden, which has been landscaped and has car-parking for at least two cars. The front garden is gravelled and railed and the wide side entrance has fuschia and laurels giving privacy.
