Ranch style with Scandi finish in Stillorgan for €570k

When the owner of 16 Sweetbriar Lane, a quiet suburban road connecting the Upper and Lower Kilmacud roads, purchased the house in 1989 its ranch-style layout was relatively unique to the city.

Built in the mid-1960s, the low-set bungalow with a wooden-covered porch had an open-play layout, with living areas set around an internal courtyard. A smart idea that helps bring light into the middle of houses when owners decide to extend.

The owner is a fan of all things Scandinavian since childhood, even buying a timber cottage in the Swedish woods where summers were spent when the children were small. They would spend daylight hours outside, swimming in the nearby lake, foraging for mushrooms, lingonberries and blueberries, as the locals did. She also piled the car high with home furnishings for the return journey, including simple things like a restful grey cloth on the kitchen table that highlights the cornflower blue of the kitchen cabinets.

The same colour is used on the front door and in the bedroom of the attic conversion. Two of the three bedrooms are to the right of the entrance hall, the smaller now used as a study, its timber tongue and groove panelling (another classic from the Swedish stylebook) painted a soft white.

Adjacent is the original main bedroom, slightly reduced in order to accommodate the staircase leading to where the main bedroom is now located with adjacent bathroom in a space of about 12sq m (129sq ft).

This house really comes into its own in the living spaces. The eat-in part of the kitchen leads through to the heart of the home, where the cabinetry is set out galley style and there are timber countertops.

The original back door has been replaced by a set of double doors that open out to a timber deck, coloured a charcoal grey from Ronseal’s range of decking stains. It’s the same colour as the timber porch and the internal courtyard, which is accessed via another set of double doors.

The livingroom is a restful space with a gas-fired stove and two more sets of double doors, one leading to the courtyard, the other out to the southeast-facing garden, a very private space of about 12m (39ft) long by 7m (23ft) wide.

The property has 132sq m (1,442sq ft) of space and is seeking €570,000 through agent Murphy Mullan.

Number 12, a similar style property sold for €640,000 last September, according to the property price register.