Pembroke Road in Ballsbridge is lined mostly with a mixture of late Georgian and early Victorian townhouses – and they have a mix of uses too. Some are divided into old-style flats or better-quality apartments, but most have been converted into offices or other business premises.
There can’t be many still in single occupancy, though a few, such as number 86, are still used as townhouse residences. But even this fine property, built in the 1850s, is not entirely in single occupancy. There is a self-contained apartment at garden level, so this is one for buyers looking for a stunning Ballsbridge townhouse with income potential. It is for sale through Hunters at €2.25 million.
Refurbishment
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The owner has lived in the 418sq m/ 4,500sq ft terraced house for 20 years, doing a major refurbishment, particularly at garden level, in more recent years. The signs are everywhere that a way has been found to live in modern comfort in a large old house, while many of the period features and interior details that make these houses so striking were restored.
The house is unusual in these terraces in that it does not share an entrance flight of steps with its neighbour. Inside, off the bright hall, with its custom-designed stained-glass fanlight, are two main interconnecting rooms. A casual livingroom is to the front, while to the rear is a fitted grey-gloss Siematic kitchen with a marble-topped island, its cool modern style working well in the high-ceilinged space.
There is another room at this level, a TV room in the rear return, which opens out on to the rear patio-style garden. (The mews site at rear was sold off years ago.) There is another smaller terrace off the upper return.
Upstairs on the half-landing is a full-sized bathroom in the return, updated recently. On the first floor, the layout follows the house’s original design: the room to the front, with its two tall sash windows, is a gracious livingroom, connected via original and unusual decoratively carved folding doors, into the rear diningroom.
Both rooms have impressive matching white marble fireplaces and the original floorboards have been stripped and oiled.
The five bedrooms are on the two upper floors. The largest, mirroring in size the livingroom below, has an ensuite and uses the adjacent bedroom as a dressingroom.
The house has recently been redecorated throughout in a cool grey colour scheme, with crisp white paintwork and matching carpets.
Apartment
The one-bedroom self-contained apartment at garden level – with a full-size bathroom, a sauna and a utility room and its own rear terrace – would, according to the agent, rent for more than €2,000 a month.
The trade-off for buyers is that Pembroke Road is a wide busy road which doesn’t feel residential (the house is next door to a small hotel) in the way that the adjacent Wellington and Waterloo roads do, and parking for the owners of this fine house is on-street.
