In November of last year, number 5 Upper Northbrook Avenue was sold, for ¤96,000. There was a hole in the kitchen ceiling; paint was peeling from the bedroom walls. It was, said the advertisement at the time, “in need of modernisation and refurbishment throughout”.
Fast forward to today, less than six months later, and number 5 is once more on sale, this time through Peter Quigley, and asking ¤225,000.
Today, it is a house transformed. Once inside the front door, one’s initial impression – of a cosy but somewhat cramped terraced house – disappears, dissolved in the bright light and space of the open-plan ground floor.
The couple who bought number 5 never intended to live in this three-bedroom terraced house off North Strand Road; it was bought with this very transformation – and, it's fair to say, investment – in mind.
The purchasing of houses to renovate and resell is no longer as common as it once was, and the fast transformation of number 5 from a house in need of repair into a home in walk-in condition with a B3 energy rating is a rare thing.
The kitchen has been entirely redesigned and refitted. It now has high-gloss units, a sleek, modern work surface, and plenty of storage. The utility area is behind closed doors, hidden away in what looks like just another kitchen cupboard. Feature windows in the kitchen allow light to pour in from the rear pebbled patio area, which is south-facing.
To the front of the house, one large open space houses the living and dining areas. The front door has been cut off from the sitting room by a feature wall that doesn’t quite reach the ceiling and into which has been built a cupboard, papered with a quirky black and white graphic.
Upstairs, the first-floor return houses a large bathroom – again, modern and sleek – with a separate WC. The three bedrooms are side by side at the top of the house, two double and one single or box room that could easily function as an office, study or walk-in wardrobe.
Original fireplaces in the upstairs bedrooms have been restored and make attractive features.
