The owners of 12 Norwood Park discovered the Ranelagh cul-de-sac while out house viewing on a Saturday morning just over 10 years ago. Before they spotted the “On View today” sign they didn’t even know the road existed – it’s off Sandford Road, just opposite the garage – and having time to kill between planned viewings they strolled down. “It’s just so quiet,” says one of the owners, explaining one of the reasons why they bought the three-bed semi after that accidental discovery.
As can clearly be seen from the exterior the couple extended, replacing a single-storey extension to the side with a two storey one – for a new kitchen, dining and living area and a fourth bedroom with en suite and walk-in wardrobe.
They also demolished the detached garage which they discovered was taking up a prime sunny position on the large corner plot that would be better used as a place for out door dining. In the original part of the house they knocked through the two reception rooms and upgraded the family bathroom.
All that work was done just five years ago when the couple had been in the house long enough to know what they wanted. The kitchen, for example, is in the front part of the new heavily glazed addition – “it’s designed to follow the sun all day”. The extension brought the property to 172sq m/1,874sq ft.
The move to working from home has changed their thinking about how and where they want to live. Since March both have been working from home, one upstairs in the newly-converted home office in the back single bedroom, one downstairs in the rear reception room. “We try to restrict the work to those rooms so that there is some division between work and home.”
A conversation late last year revealed that both had separately been thinking for months at their home office desks that if they can work remotely from Ranelagh they can work remotely from anywhere in the country and maybe it was time to consider a radical lifestyle change. And they have. They are moving to the west of Ireland, taking on a renovation project, and placing 12 Norwood Park on the market with Sherry FitzGerald seeking €950,000.
The couple stayed living in the house while the extension was being built – probably good experience for their country renovation project as it inevitably was more disruptive than imagined – and the new build is very different in style from the original part.
At ground level contemporary features include floor to ceiling windows, a polished concrete floor with underfloor heating and sliding glazed doors beside the dining table that open to the angular patio with its dramatic canopy.
A silestone breakfast bar partially separates the kitchen area – its high-end specifications and fitout designed for its cookery-loving owners – from the rest of the space, which also includes a roomy seating area under a large rooflight.
The exterior timber cladding further adds a contemporary feel. The garden which wraps around the extension has been landscaped, and there is off-street parking to the front.
