Cosy and calm three-bed in Sandymount for €2.2m

Address: 10 Herbert Road, Sandymount, Dublin 4

Price: €2,200,000

Agent: Sherry FitzGerald

In late 2009, when houses sales – particularly at the upper end of the market – were down to a trickle, the then owners of 10 Herbert Road in Sandymount put their house to auction instead of opting for a private treaty sale.

It worked, with three parties chasing the four-bedroom, renovated and extended period house, edging the price from the AMV (advised minimum value) of €1.75 million to €2.05 million.

Nearly seven years later, those buyers are now moving on from their 215sq m (2,310sq ft) semi-detached Victorian home, leaving it much the same way they found it. They have made some changes – most notably that it’s now a three-bed: they converted the small single room to make a much bigger ensuite for the main bedroom.

Marble fireplaces

The interior style throughout is cosy and calm, with heritage colours on the walls. The two nicely proportioned interconnecting reception rooms have plenty of original features, such as matching marble fireplaces with duck-egg blue tile inserts, shuttered sash windows, cornicing and ceiling roses.

The rear reception room is furnished as a formal diningroom, but there is plenty of space in the extension for a good-sized family table, so it looks not to have been used too frequently. Off the hall, down three original granite steps (a nice feature), is the kitchen and livingroom.

It was extended to the rear and the side, with the new, mostly glazed, side room a comfortable family space, facing the sun and opening to a private patio to the front.

That extra outdoor space helps compensate for the relatively small rear garden. There’s also a utility room and guest bathroom.

Roomy landing

Upstairs off the roomy landing, the three bedrooms are good doubles, and the family bathroom was probably two smaller rooms at some stage, so it’s a good size, but new owners will probably give it a makeover.