Ballsbridge/€3.4m: A terraced house on Waterloo Road - in flats when it was bought 15 years ago - has been restored with great attention to detail, writes Rose Doyle
The dramatic, dark brown walls of the main reception rooms in 50 Waterloo Road, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4 set the tone in what is a handsome house.
The virility of Farrow & Ball's mahogany, and the more subtle earthy colours used everywhere else, emphasise both the 12ft high ceilings and the fine detail in plaster work, woodwork and doors. The rear garden; vigorously planted and paved, given granite steps and even a mysterious mirror; matches the house for good looks.
Set far enough back from the road to allow off-street parking for several cars - a boon on what is both one of Ballsbridge's main thoroughfares and a busy Baggot Street artery - number 50 was built in the mid-1850s. Terraced, it has two storeys over garden level, granite steps to the front door, four bedrooms (one in use as a study), three reception rooms, large kitchen/breakfastroom and some 295sq m (3,157sq ft) of floor space.
Lisney, with an AMV of €3.4 million, will auction it on June 28th.
Number 50 was in rented units when the vendors bought it 15 years ago. In the years since it has been completely refurbished, even to re-slating the roof.
Original shuttered sash windows, timber floors, cornices, ceiling roses and, notably, a painted, arched window with fanlight behind a gallery on the first floor return, have all been carefully restored.
The pouring cream colour of the wood and plaster work in the main reception rooms works well with the beige carpeting, brown walls and long sash windows. The fireplace in the front drawingroom is white-ish marble, and original.
An ornate arch in the hallway gives views of a second, similarly ornate arch on the first floor return. What was once a bedroom on this return is now a large, comfortably carpeted family bathroom with free-standing, claw-foot bath.
The first floor bedrooms, and another at garden level, have been given a deliberate 19th century feel. The main bedroom is the width of the house, has twin windows over Waterloo Road, a black limestone fireplace and lemony coloured walls.
In the large, garden level kitchen/breakfastroom there is a quarry-tiled floor and dresser-style fittings along the walls. The chimney breast has the original granite surround and a hatch serves the aqua-coloured, timber-floored diningroom next door. On this level, too there, is a shower room and toilet.
