Knocksinna is an estate of sprawling bungalows built in the 1970s. When built, each had a huge amount of off-street parking as well as a garage set back from the road.
The current owner of 3 Knocksinna Crescent, who bought the house in 2000, is only its second. While large in size, the original house was laid out as a number of small rooms, which made the house feel dark, she recalls. She hired Brian O’Flanagan, of Dublin 12-based Terry and O’Flanagan Architects, who reconfigured the property as well as extending the house upwards to build a second floor.
The entrance hall is now double height and the roomy, light-filled, travertine-floored space includes the area where the original kitchen was.
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Bay addition
O’Flanagan also added a huge bay window to the living room in the front, ensuring plenty of light, and closed off the diningroom area to the rear, turning it instead into one of the property’s four bedrooms.
The house was extended sideways too, to add a second sitting room where some of the owner’s five children can play.
The sizeable kitchen, with its granite-topped units, is situated in what was originally the garage. It includes a large dining area and a utility room that opens on to a corridor, off which two more bedrooms can be found.
The children think of the generously shelved utility space, packed to the ceiling with beautifully pressed clothes and linen, as “an extension of their own wardrobes”, says the owner, laughing.
The west-facing garden is private, with doors opening from the kitchen on to a deck and a well-planted green space, which includes an adorable playhouse that the owners’ children have now outgrown. (Previously, access to the garden was through the garage.)
Upstairs is the master bedroom, which has good wardrobe storage and a large en suite shower room.
Attic spaces
There are a further two attic rooms at this level, but because these are not compliant with the height requirements specified by building regulations, they cannot be called bedrooms. Two of the children are happy to room there, however.
In total, including the attic rooms, the property measures an ample 289sq m (3,111sq ft), with space for each member of the seven-strong family to call their own.
The house has off-street parking for up to three cars, and Hollypark School is just a five-minute walk away. The asking price for the property is €1.35 million through agents Sherry FitzGerald.
