Running parallel to Northumberland Road and linking St Mary’s Road to Baggot Lane, Pembroke Gardens is off the beaten track. This secret street in embassy belt Dublin 4 is lined with red-brick mews houses from the 1970s and 1980s, mainly screened from the road by high gates.
As well as a Ballsbridge address some, like number 4 Carlton Mews, offer a lot of living space and privacy. Constructed in the late 1970s the property was purchased by its current owners about 25 years ago. Since then, they have improved the layout and insulation levels to give the 160sq m/1722sq ft, three-bedroom, three-bathroom property a decent C2 Ber rating.
The house is set on an east-west axis with a private courtyard of about 20sq m to the front where there is room to park off-street and store bins and bikes.
The owners removed the existing steps to the front of the villa-style home, replacing it with a gently sloping ramp, and reconfigured it to give a flat ground floor, where the three double bedrooms are located. The litmus test, they say, was the ease with which one of their daughters was able to wheel the buggy straight into the hall and park it.
Upstairs, there is a large, open-plan living-dining room that runs the depth of the house. It is dual aspect with sliding doors opening to a west-facing terrace to the front, where there is an electric awning to give you shade when it gets too warm.
The sloped ceiling here soars to a double height of six metres. Its living area is set around a Richard Le Droff-style fireplace, into which they inserted a wood-burning Stoveax.
The dining room to the rear opens out to a Juliet-style balcony and off it is the eat-in kitchen. While the latter is already a decent size, the next owner might look at incorporating the dining room and kitchen into one space to give you two distinct rooms at this level.
A large tread spiral staircase winds up from this floor to an L-shaped mezzanine, currently set up as a home office and big enough for two to work comfortably. While light-filled and spacious you could look at glazing in this void to dial down sound transference.
The property offers a lot of living space. The width of the house is over 5.5 metres, its look is contemporary and there is lots of wall space for art.
Its owners have factored in ageing considerations; the stairs and stairwell up to the living floor have been designed to accommodate a chair lift, should you ever need one and the stair treads are wide enough that you won’t have to ever navigate them sideways.
There is also plenty of storage, from a small laundry room separate to the family bathroom, with further closet space under the stairs, hall storage and space under the eaves.
The main bedroom is to the front of the ground floor. Its ceiling has been insulated against any cold from the terrace above. It has a shower room ensuite where there is electric mat underfloor heating. The second double also has a shower ensuite, where there is a porthole window. The room, which has a lovely sun room area, has been set up as a second sitting room overlooking the east-facing garden to the rear. It is both restful and practical – a great idea for couples who like to have “me time” as well as “we time”.
The garden is low maintenance with a silver granite sculpture and water feature at its centre. It borders the back of the Italian embassy, whose grounds are obscured by a screen of tall evergreens with a row of silver birch discreetly screening it from the neighbours.
The property is asking €1.3million through agents Quillsen. Next door, number 3 sold for €975,000 in April 2014, according to the property price register.
