The first edition of the six-inch Ordnance Survey map of Rathgar Road denotes the houses on this stretch as Cambridge Terrace. Number 165 is one of a pair built in the centre, in 1836, that are slightly taller than their neighbours and have little dormers at the top.
When the current owners bought the property in 2013, they had a lot of layers to peel off but they found good bones beneath. It is for sale through DNG with an asking price of €1.75 million, which includes the coach house at the end of the back garden that opens to Rathgar Place.
The front door opens into a tall, wide hall lit by a delicate fanlight with small details of red and orange glass that reflect the sunsets it faces. Wood panelling defines the arch halfway along and the original boards are in place under the wooden floor. The owners did a lot of work on this level, removing wallpaper, rewiring and replastering, and the ceilings in the hall, the two reception rooms and the main bedroom have lovely cornices and centrepieces in high relief.
To the left are two interconnecting living rooms with handsome marble fireplaces – white in the front, black to the rear – and the reconditioned windows, while single glazed, shut out the traffic noise. The five-part shutters were replaced throughout the house, but the owners’ care is reflected in their reuse of the original fittings.
The stairwell is really bright thanks to a tall, arched window, and another above this casts more light on all levels. The main bedroom spans the width of the house; it has two deep-set windows and an internal en suite through an original door. To the rear is another big double that looks out to the garden.
The second landing originally opened into a small bathroom, which the owners replaced with a glazed balustrade and a rooflight, to striking effect.
On the top floor, off a landing set out as an office, are a guest bedroom with dormer window, and a limestone-tiled family bathroom with walk-in shower and freestanding bath. Two windows offer views from the mountains to the Pigeon House.
The kitchen, made in the 1990s, is down a few steps from the hall, past a guest toilet. It is an L shape with large windows on two sides giving the feel of a holiday house, or even a boat. The stairs were removed by a previous owner but could be reinstated to access the garden level from the hall; for now, there are external steps from the kitchen. This shows how flexible the house could be for new owners; the basement, previously let out, is configured as two bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom and laundry; it could be renovated for new tenants or reincorporated into the main house, giving a total area of 263sq m (2,831sq ft).
The 120ft garden faces southeast and feels very cottagey, with carefully tended beds, espaliered fruit trees and raspberry bushes along the south wall, an apple tree starting to fruit, and two seating areas. At the very end, behind a busy greenhouse, is a two-storey, 66sq m (741sq ft) coach house used for storage but again, with its access to Rathgar Place, there is potential, subject to planning, to refurbish it as an office or to subdivide the plot and develop a mews, as neighbours have done.
There is off-street parking for two cars on gravel at the front. Regular buses pass the door and the Luas green line is close by at Beechwood. There are plenty of schools within a short walk or cycle, and Rathmines and Rathgar villages are visible from the front gate; or you can nip to the shops on Upper Rathmines Road via a shortcut through Rathgar Place and York Road.
