When vendors Jo and Mick Gibney bought 53 Frascati Park in 1984 it was, Mick says, “in shocking condition. There was no one living here, the windows had been cemented closed and it was insect infested.” They had just returned from Sydney with two small children and paid €42,000. Their home has more than repaid their faith, and imagination in the 32 years since then. Family now grown, they are downsizing.
A new owner will pay in the region of €1.195 million, agent Sherry Fitzgerald’s asking price, for a house that is stylish and comfortable with a self-contained apartment to the side. The 197sq m (2,125sq ft) floor area has two reception rooms, four bedrooms, study niche and kitchen/family space. The apartment (which could be rented, house a family member or become part of the main house) has two bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and living room.
“We did the work over time,” Mick says, “Jo did all the designing.” She generously credits the “outstanding” work and help of their builder Boris, pointing to finishing and craft touches. The house was built in 1921 and the Gibneys discovered, under early wallpaper, calculations made by craftsmen re their wages alongside uncomplimentary graffiti about de Valera. It’s still there.
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A stone wall at the end of the garden, once Lord Edward FitzGerald’s coach house, adds another piece of history.
Original features
Jo says they "kept as many of the original house features as possible". They added features too: a Kilkenny marble fireplace in the sitting room came from Carysfort College.
The kitchen/family area gets lots of light from windows overlooking the garden, a ceiling Velux and a clever inset of glass brick. Another clever idea, off the tiled hallway, is the one-time garage now incorporated as a study area.
The front facing sitting room has ceiling coving, picture rail, wide bay window and sliding doors leading to a family room with similar period detail. A Stovax in this room “gives great heat,” Jo says.
A concealed door to the apartment gives both amusement and a set of bookshelves.
An exterior balcony, reached through a door on the first-floor landing, is a period feature in these Frascati Park houses. Bedroom ceilings are high, two have cast-iron fireplaces, the main bedroom has a wide bay window and all have built-in wardrobes. There is a wetroom in the family bathroom.
The southwest facing garden has a couple of patios divided by hedging, a lawn, rockery, trees, arum lilies and daisies.
