Someone should really think up another name to describe bungalows because the image that is conjured up by the word has been blighted by all those featureless single storey houses that were thrown up across the countryside in the final decades of the last century.
The bungalows built in Ireland, particularly in suburban Dublin from the 1930s to the 1940s are very different houses altogether. They're solid, good-looking homes, often with long gardens, and they are often double fronted so the space inside is well laid out and feels much more roomy than its square footage might indicate. Ceilings tend to be higher as well so again the architects of the time were trying to increase the feelings of space and they have lovely features such as high panelled doors, interesting shaped windows and attractive porches. Bungalows work so well for modern living because they're easy.
No running up and down stairs or worrying that small children are going to arrive headfirst along the bannister. Best of all, every time new owners move in they can decide how they're gong to use the rooms. In a bungalow, there are no conventions so there's nothing to say that a bedroom shouldn't be at the front or maybe it should open on to the back garden, or maybe it should be in an entirely new space created in the attic. It's that sort of flexibility that makes bungalows easy to live in.
Take 81 Beaumont Avenue in Churchtown, a house fairly typical of its age. It is for sale by private treaty through Sherry FitzGerald which is guiding £310,000 (€393,700). The current owners, who have lived there since 1997, have done a lot of work, both structurally and decoratively, to open up the living space. They use it as a two-bedroom house with two reception rooms and a large eat-in kitchen/living area but really its layout could be configured many ways.
To the front are two reception rooms both with square bay windows. Their original fireplaces have been revamped with paint treatments and mosaic tiles and the floors are covered in sisal. The family mostly lives in the eat-in kitchen at the back of the house which has been extended with a deep bay window that is large enough to take a sofa. The fitted kitchen has been stained a soft green colour and there is room for a good-sized table in this very bright room.
The main bedroom is also at the back of the house and it has a new hardwood bay window identical to the one in the kitchen, which again means that the room is big and bright. The new rooms, the bathroom and additional bedroom are further along the hall. The house feels freshly decorated with a mix of soft, bright colours on the walls, stained and polished floorboards and natural floor coverings. Outside, the front garden has been gravelled to make room for two or three cars and the large back garden feels very private and has been landscaped with lawn, patio areas, shrubs and trees.
