Orwell Gardens is a gorgeous little spot. Situated along the banks of the River Dodder with access to Dartry Park via a pedestrian-only bridge at the end of a lane, the terraced and semi-detached houses were built in the late 1930s. They are solid family homes of mainly two to three bedrooms with good gardens front and rear, as well as good connectivity and green spaces. The small estate is full of small cul-de-sacs where you imagine kids can roam quite safely.
Number 7 is a mid-terrace two-bed purchased by its owners in 1998 and extended 12 years ago adding another 20sq m to its original size so that it now measures 93sq m (1,006sq ft).
The E1 Ber-rated house has salvaged pitch pine floorboards throughout the ground floor which comprises a small sitting room to the front with an open fireplace, a lounge to its rear that can be accessed by glass paneled interconnecting doors, also with an open fireplace, and a large kitchen-dining room with roof lights and a round window on the gable end that floods light through.
Where the original galley kitchen was there is now a roomy utility. Glass doors lead out to a low-maintenance southwest-facing patio garden of about 5sq m.
Bedrooms
Upstairs the property’s only bathroom has been extended and turned into a shower room. The main bedroom runs the depth of the house – the result of the owners changing the layout by knocking through two double bedrooms. It could easily be returned to its original layout – all the next owner needs do is install a stud partition wall and return the original door opening. The second bedroom, a large single, is big enough to take a pair of bunk beds and give the kids enough floor space to play.
Several houses have sold here in the past two to three years. Next door, number 6 Orwell Gardens, sold through Bid X1 for €460,000 last month.
In June last year number 66 sold for €200,000, and 54 Orwell Gardens, a three-bed semi of about 78sq m (850sq ft), needing work also sold that month for €410,000. Number 93 Orwell Gardens, a three-bed terrace of 71sq m, with a 22m-long back garden also sold in June for €416,000, according to the Property Price Register.
There is off-street parking for one car outside number 7 which is asking €525,000 through agent Beirne & Wise.