Portobello Victorian gets modern love – and a wine cellar to fall for

News this summer of water shortages didn’t much faze the owner of 12 Victoria Street, a mid-terrace redbrick off South Circular Road, because when he built the house – and this is considerably more than a renovation on the long-established street – he installed an underground rainwater collection system in the rear garden and a water filtration system. Other eco measures include solar panels and a heat recovery and ventilation system.

Smart-wired interiors allow for remote control of just about everything via an app. So the blinds can be lowered and the lights and gas fire turned on to make for a warm welcome at the end of the working day, while sensors in several rooms turn the lights on as you enter.

There’s underfloor heating for comfort – under the walnut effect glossy tiling – and CCTV for security. It all adds up to a technologically advanced, A-rated house but one feature that will really stand out for viewers as they walk around is the one they stand on – a glass door in the floor of the kitchen/living room. Remotely controlled, it opens to give access down to a circular, shelved cellar with space for 4,000 bottles of wine.

The house – then in poor condition – was bought for the bargain price of €380,000 in 2012 and subsequently entirely demolished. It makes this an unusual build – a new house in the middle of a Victorian terrace. To maintain the streetline, reclaimed redbrick was sourced for the facade, which features sash windows and a new fanlight over the front door similar to other houses on the quiet road. It’s now a four-bedroom house – the fourth bedroom is in the attic space – with two bathrooms and guest toilet.

The doorbell telephones the owner when someone is at the door. Once inside there is a small reception room to the front with a contemporary gas fire on one wall and decorated in dark colours to lend a cosy feel.

The rest of the ground floor is open plan with two staircases, an unusual feature in a 179sq m (1,926sq ft) house. One is an open tread, glass-panelled walnut staircase beside the kitchen that leads up to a large home office in the return, the other leads up to the bedrooms, the largest being to the rear with a full-size bathroom en suite and walk-in wardrobe. The bathroom at the top of the house – beside the fourth bedroom – contains a steam room.

The high-gloss Design Yard kitchen units include a large island and breakfast bar topped with Silestone, and it has all the high-end extras such as a steam oven, Qooker boiling water tap, rubbish disposal sink unit, steam oven and pop-up extractor.

This living area and kitchen open to the rear garden – where there is an electronically controlled awning over the patio section – with two walls of glazed fold-back doors.

A plant room to manage the sophisticated systems in the house is in the return, accessed from the patio.

The owner bought the house for its convenience to the city centre and built it with the long-term in mind. It has been future-proofed with energy-efficient measures and technology including CAT7 wiring. However, the couple now have a toddler and another baby on the way and are moving to the country.

Knight Frank is seeking €1.5 million for 12 Victoria Street. Buyers will be drawn by the style and location of the house with its meticulous attention to detail, its luxurious features and low running costs. A relatively small – but thoughtfully landscaped – rear garden will be a trade-off.