In the mid-noughties a small development of five three-storey mews houses were built on Church Lane in Rathmines, in what were the long back gardens of a Victorian terrace on Rathmines Road. While from the lane they look the same with their identical stone walls and timber gates, they were actually two separate, quite different builds – three houses owned and designed by their architect owners and two (numbers 3 and 4) owned by people who had owned lock-up businesses on the lane and took the opportunity of working with the architects to build a house each for themselves on the sites.
The owners of 4 Church Lane – which is now for sale – had the benefit of a substantial site, wider than its neighbours and one that gave the the possibility of a 32m (107ft) southwest-facing garden.
They built a four-bed family home with two ensuites, one bathroom and a guest toilet in a three-storey house with 340sq m (3,659sq ft) of space. The master suite at the top of the house includes two walk-in dressing areas, a large shower-room and, in an unusual arrangement, a Jacuzzi bath up a short flight of steps under a large skylight.
0 of 3
But it’s in the family rooms and circulation areas where the generous square footage of this mews is so obvious. Off the entrance hall is a cinema room to the front, and the hall then leads into the centre of the house where a three-storey atrium has a rooflight throwing light down into the space.
There are contemporary finishes throughout, with oak internal doors and skirting, oak floors (with underfloor heating), grey marble flooring in the hall, and glass panels on the staircase.
To the rear is a vast open-plan livingroom with a contemporary kitchen, dining space and living area. The extra width in the site made space for a large pantry – an extra room really – off the kitchen and, on the first floor, a laundry room.
The rear wall of the living area is taken up with glazed concertina doors that fold right back, and there is a curved staircase leading up to a further livingroom with its own good-sized terrace looking down over the back garden and the rear of the grand old houses.
It’s unusual to find a mews with such a long garden and this is maturely planted and features an Astroturf putting green. There is off-street parking for two cars.
Lisney is selling 4 Church Lane, Rathmines for €1.75 million. The same agent recently sold next door, number 3, a slightly smaller house but with the same layout, for €1.615 million.
