The owner of a bungalow in Killiney, Co Dublin, worked in the fashion business before retiring – and her eye for detail in the attractive interior fitout of her home is evident. She upgraded the 1940s-1950s house she paid €530,000 for in 2013, calling in local architect Orla O’Callaghan to oversee the job.
“We changed it inside out,” says the owner, putting in new heating, plumbing and wiring, converting the attic and revamping the layout.
She also designed the landscaped 0.3-acre garden at the back and in 2016 renovated an apartment in the adjacent garage, creating an open-plan kitchen/livingroom, bedroom and shower. The converted attic adds 25sq m (269sq ft) of space.
Now Grianan, 10 Ballinclea Road, Killiney, Co Dublin, a detached 176sq m (1,894sq ft) two/three-bed with a large back garden and an adjacent but separate self-contained apartment (included in the size) is for sale through Lisney for €1.15 million. It has a Ber of E1.
The changes to the house began at the front door, when the original door set into a brick arch was replaced: the new front door is just inside a new small porch. It opens into a large double-height front hall with timber-panelled walls and a polished Junckers oak floor that continues – through a wide arch with double doors – into the kitchen/breakfastroom.
On the left of the hall is a formal diningroom, with grey part-panelled walls, with the rest of the wall painted a deep blue; it opens through double doors into a sittingroom which has a wood-burning stove and double doors opening to the patio at the rear. A small cupboard in the diningroom conceals filing boxes. “I love storage,” says the owner, who adds later: “I’m over-the-top tidy.” The house benefits from her instincts, for there’s a lot of subtle storage space everywhere and an absence of any clutter.
Double doors in a very wide arch open from the front hall into the kitchen/breakfastroom, which is really the heart of the house. This is a very bright space, where the back wall was extended to create effectively a large box bay window, with floor-to-ceiling windows and double doors opening to the back patio. There are also two glazed doors on opposite sides of the room halfway down: they open to patios at either side of the house.
The kitchen has smart pale grey units, white polished granite countertops and roof windows over the counter that divides the kitchen from the dining area. This space is furnished with comfortable chairs and a simple wooden table.
Two bedrooms, both en suite, are off a corridor at the right of the front hall, past a downstairs toilet with a smart black-and-white tiled floor. The main bedroom has a cleverly created walk-in wardrobe next to two big windows. A second double bedroom also has a large wardrobe.
The attic has been turned into a very smart space: stairs lead up past a cleverly designed coat cupboard to a wide landing with a polished oak floor and three Velux windows. A room on one side is fitted out as a bedroom: the other as a bathroom with a freestanding clawfoot bath. There is lots of well-designed under-eaves storage in both rooms and on the landing.
Outside, beyond a sandstone patio that stretches around the house at the back, a lawn slopes up towards tall trees. A path leads around the lawn, beside herbaceous beds richly planted with flowers and shrubs. An olive tree stands near one patio beside a fig tree: plants include rhododendrons, summer-flowering jasmine, verbena and, at the very back of the garden, large tree ferns.
There’s room to park a number of cars in the large gravelled front garden. Grianan is on Ballinclea Road, the narrow road that links Killiney Road to the Graduate pub roundabout, close to St Joseph of Cluny secondary school.
