Sometimes a keen eye combined with a clever floorplan reconfiguration can suddenly make a house flow the way it needs to for modern living. When the owners of number 11 Cornelscourt Hill Road, in Foxrock, Dublin 18, bought it in 2014, paying €610,000 at the time, it had a near-Baltic Ber-rating of F – not uncommon in a 1960s build – and its front porch opened directly into the living room. However it it had plenty of room on its side.
The owners installed electric gates to the front, which is now gravelled, and moved the main entrance to the side of the house where there is a welcoming square-shaped hall. They also set the accommodation to the rear of the house, where there are three bedrooms – two doubles and a single – with one of the doubles currently used as a family room. Painted in Farrow & Ball’s Stiffkey Blue it has double doors that open directly out to an anthracite grey, composite deck which steps down into a large, lawned garden. The main bedroom has a shower en suite bathroom.
Cool gloss kitchen
As well as upgrading the insulation of the house, the owners installed triple glazed windows by Munster Joinery. The property now has a respectable D1/C3 Ber rating.
It’s to the front of the property where the reimagining is most evident. Set out in a broken-plan fashion, the hall leads through to a cool gloss kitchen, its island set out in the palest of greys while the wall units wear a darker, stormier shade. There are quartz countertops and the absence of above-counter units makes the room feel very uncluttered. As the focal point of the house, it has bar stools concealed behind the inner side of the island and leading off it is the dining room, where there’s a reading nook in what was the original front porch.
This room and the lounge both enjoy southern light with the latter also warmed by an inset, wood-burning stove. The original chimney breast wall is painted a fashionable shade of restful green, Mid Azure Green by Little Greene.
Attic rooms
The work was completed in 2018 and the property extends to 165sq m/1779sq ft of space with a further 37sq m/400sq ft of attic space at the top of the stairs. These two attic rooms, which have roof lights, share a shower room. One is currently used as a playroom. The other could work as a second home office. The main home office is in what was originally a garage to the side of the house and is accessed via a utility room. It too is bathed in southern sunshine.
Located within an easy walk of the Green line’s Carrickmines Luas stop, the property is seeking €825,000 through agent SherryFitzGerald.
A comparable property might be number 14, which was a three-bed with an E2 Ber rating when it sold in 2017 for €585,000. Following a modern upgrade, the 138sq m property with an additional 60sq m of attic space and a C2 Ber rating sold again in November 2019 for €800,000, according to the Property Price Register.
