There are several Grove Avenues in Dublin but the one in Harold’s Cross is a secret L-shaped street with cottages to the front, and to the rear a terrace of eight brick-fronted houses that run parallel to Grove Road, the busy commuter route along the Royal Canal between Rathmines and Harold’s Cross.
The house was bought by its current owners in November 2015 when they paid €425,000 for the three-bed terrace. It needed complete modernisation.
Using Bright Design architects they set about upgrading it, constructing a two-storey extension to the rear, installing new bathrooms and creating a first class main bedroom. By insulating the house and installing new windows by Grady Joinery they raised the Ber rating from E1 to a toasty B3.
Ger Smyth Interiors advised on the décor. The hall is now tiled in a Victorian-style pattern and heated by a period-style radiator. The ground floor is open plan and features a kitchen of painted units and a butcher’s block-topped island with Belfast sink. The joinery was done by The Kitchen Shop. A racing green range cooker adds colour and polished floorboards were supplied by Trunk Flooring.
The family installed underfloor heating throughout, save for the hall, where they wanted the period radiator aesthetic, something they’ve continued upstairs but the luxury this affords a relatively modest-sized house, now 108sq m / 1062sq ft, cannot be measured.
To the front, through glass-panelled sliding doors, is a charming sitting room with built in bookshelves and plantation shutters on the window for privacy.
To the rear is a north-facing courtyard, glazed on two sides to create a lightwell for the family room to the rear of the ground floor, set down a step from the rest of the layout.
The first of the three double bedrooms is set on the return and has bubble-opaque glass in its windows. The second bedroom is currently a nursery and shares a smart shower room with the other double. This wash room is illuminated by a light well as it has no natural day light.
The main bedroom has smart built-in wardrobes as well another set of drawered storage obscured from the bed and leading through to a fine en suite bathroom, big enough for a bath with a shower in it.
The owners say they invested about €150,000 into the refurbishment and the house is now seeking €695,000 through agent Sherry FitzGerald.
To the front of the house is a south-facing front garden hedged for privacy. It backs onto Cathal Brugha Barracks whose perimeter wall is very high.
Would-be buyers could explore the possibility of doing something similar to number 1, the first house on the terrace. They have built a single storey building to the front for use as a home office or studio. A roof terrace on top raises the space towards the sun and gives an additional room into the bargain – all subject to planning of course.
In 2014 number 8 came to market seeking €475,000 and sold in July of the following year for €485,000, according to the property price register.
While quiet with no through traffic, car owners need to park either on the more visible part of the avenue where there are six permit parking spaces for some 14 homes – two of which are designated disabled spaces – or venture further afield to O’Hara Avenue, or to Harold’s Cross Cottages.
