While the world is currently on high alert because of the coronavirus, a previous owner of 8 Grosvenor Terrace in Monkstown, Co Dublin, had her fair share of loss through an outbreak of yellow fever in the late 1800s.
Grace Anna Sophia Caulfeild lost her husband Rev Charles Caulfeild and three nieces to the mosquito-borne disease at Nassau in the Bahamas, where her husband was bishop, in an epidemic in 1862 which claimed almost 2,000 lives.
However, Grace Caulfeild, who resided at the imposing Victorian residence until her death 1896, is remembered more for being the grandmother of prolific Irish artist Sir William Orpen.
The house, constructed in the mid-1840s, lies at the end of a terrace of just eight houses at the intersection of Grosvenor Terrace and Pakenham Road, and enjoys off-street parking for three cars due to its corner site.
The two-storey over garden property, which stretches to a significant 288sq m (3,100sq ft), was purchased by its current owner at auction in 2014 for €1.935 million, well over the advertised AMV of €1.5 million.
In 2015 the owner called in architectural firm de Blacam and Meagher to upgrade and extend the property. In doing so a sun room was added to the rear of the house, as was a delightful cedar-clad garden room that lies discretely behind a wall of hedging, adding a further 34sq m (366sq ft) to the property.
At garden level what was an open-plan area had a stud-wall partition added to give a corridor lined with storage, and the old coal room was converted into a wine cellar.
The bright sun room which was added to the rear – and links to the kitchen via French doors – would also work as a superb dining room because of the garden views.
In its current layout the dining room is at garden level to the front of the house, allowing the two reception rooms upstairs to be used as drawing rooms.
There is a real sense of luxury to these rooms, with tall ceilings, elaborate cornice work and twin white marble fireplaces. That said, there is a feel of laid back elegance about the place, with an abundance of antiques and shelves filled to the brim with books.
Dressing room
The property has four bedrooms, though the smaller box room on the first floor is used as a dressing room but could easily be reinstated as a bedroom with the removal of high-end built-in wardrobes.
A study on the first return that benefits from French doors with a staircase to the garden could also work as a fifth bedroom.
Besides the superb interiors, where the entire house is in turnkey condition, the rear garden is worth a special mention.
The corner site, which has a southwesterly aspect, allows the property a good-sized garden, and is laid out as a lawn framed by neat box hedging and a Victorian-style herb and vegetable plot with espaliered fruit trees.
The de Blacam and Meagher garden room is really beautiful, and a real selling point to the house. Currently laid out as a guest suite with a kitchenette and living/dining area, it links to a potting room where the old granite walls are framed by a cedar and glass ceiling.
The property is just a few minutes' walk from Monkstown village, local yacht and tennis clubs, and is on the market through Sherry FitzGerald seeking €2.695 million.
