The 1930s homes on Valentia Road in Drumcondra were built by the Civil Service Housing Association for high-ranking civil servants. Well constructed, they were of average size but boasted huge back gardens. The owners of number 11, an ordinary pebble-dash-fronted semi, have taken advantage of this to double its size to 273sq m (2,940sq ft).
The house is situated across the road from the playground of Corpus Christi National School. The owners of number 11 have been inspired by the American aesthetic to create an open-plan home. Architect John Pender opened and extended the ground floor. A gas feature fire in the hall takes you through arched double doors to an office area with steps down to an enormous kitchen/ livingroom that has ceiling heights of 13 ft and measures about 78sq m (850sq ft), the size of an average two-bedroom apartment. The room has a pitched roof banked with roof lights that allow light to pour in on both sides.
The painted kitchen, with granite countertops, is to the left and looks out to the garden. A raised sandstone gas fire is the room’s focal point.
0 of 4
A half-wall divides the sittingroom from the diningroom to the rear which enjoys garden views.
A set of steps takes you up to a music room that mirrors the shape of the study. A glass panel feeds light in from the front parlour – a cosy sittingroom with a bay window to the front of the house. The doors and windows throughout echo the form of those in the original house.
There is a good-sized utility area that leads to an industrial kitchen where the current owner runs her Cake That baking business.
It’s a really interesting space, situated in the original garage, with its own front door, and could become a home office.
Even after such large-scale extensions, the west-facing garden is still 120 feet long and is divided into three areas: a landscaped garden with specimen shrubs, a trampoline area and a concreted basketball court at the far end.
The house is asking a bullish €1.25 million through agents SherryFitzGerald but houses on this road are “as rare as hen’s teeth”, according to agent Martin Doyle. Possibly the last time a house here came to market was May 2007. Number 5, a 1,000sq ft four-bedroom end-of-terrace went to auction with an AMV of €725,000.
It was withdrawn at €735,000 and is believed to have sold later for a higher sum.
