Refurbished four-bed property in Glasnevin with original 1910 features for €695,000
This is a home with a great deal of dignified style and welcoming comfort about it. Vendors Liz and Dan, who have lived and reared a family in 46 Marguerite Road for 17 years, are moving to “take on a another project house”.
Their affection for the area is such that they won’t be moving far. “We wouldn’t dream of moving from the block,” Liz admits.
And why would they – the Botanic Gardens is close by, the city centre is a trot in the other direction and a vibrant sense of community abounds.
Built around 1910 by Alexander Strain, whose houses are as coveted today as they were then, number 46 has a floor area of 140sq m (1507sq ft) with four bedrooms, two reception rooms, an open-plan kitchen/diningroom, two bathrooms and converted attic.
A rear garden has patio decking, lawn, bamboo hedging, silver birch and a back entrance. The front has a railed garden. Agent Sherry Fitzgerald is asking €695,000.
Extensive refurbishment
Liz and Don took good care of Strain’s original features during an extensive refurbishment. The interconnecting living and sittingrooms have precisely matching dark marble fireplaces with ornate yellow tiles, the latter discovered after a thorough cleaning. Floors are polished pine and a square bay window to the front has leaded glass insets to match those in the front door.
A vaulted glass ceiling in the dining part of the open-plan kitchen/diningroom gives the space great light. The kitchen floor is marble and worktops are of polished black granite.
The family bathroom, on the first-floor return, has a rainwater shower and underfloor heating. There is also a bedroom on the return. The first floor has two, front facing bedrooms and the main bedroom to the rear with a cast-iron fireplace and walk-in wardrobe.
The converted attic, with polished floorboards and three Velux windows, is a useful playroom.
Clever Poolbeg three-bed refurb with marina view
A house with full-on views of Poolbeg Marina on the Liffey Estuary has a lot going for it even before you step inside. As well as location, 47 Pigeon House Road has a well-thought-out, two-storey extension, three large bedrooms, original period features making latter-day design sense and solar panels that ensure a constant supply of hot water.
Built in the early 20th century and named after local man John Pigeon, an entrepreneurial caretaker for the builders of the Great South Wall, number 47 has been home to Lynn and Ciaran Simms and their children for 15 appreciative years. Lynn generously credits Ciaran with a great deal of the imagination and work that went into a careful refurbishing.
The Simms demolished and rebuilt an existing two-storey extension in yellow stock brick, stripped ceilings and doors, laid down floors, put in solar panels, under-floor heating and two bathrooms. The result is a 146sq m (1,572sq ft) home with three bedrooms, two reception rooms, kitchen/dining room and two bathrooms.
Appealing location
They are selling, with an asking price of €625,000, through Sherry FitzGerald. Such is the appeal of the location they are not, Lynn assures, "moving far; this is a great area to live in".
The finest marina views are from the front-facing sash windows of the main bedroom. A subtle-toned drawing room on the ground floor, which has a cast-iron period fireplace, polished floorboards and cornicing, has more views. The long, wide hallway has a splendid original arch, lots of storage and a front door with coloured, leaded glass.
The kitchen/dining room fills the ground floor of the extension while arguably the most interesting room in the house, a high-ceilinged bedroom in use as a study, is on the first floor. The bathroom has pitched, feature windows and a 52ft-long rear garden has a vehicular entrance. There is a sheltering, hedged garden to the front.
Phibsborough redbrick on Shandon Park blends modern and original features
A quiet, redbrick on a road of equally quiet, redbrick Edwardian houses, number 85 Shandon Park is located just metres from the amenities of Mount Bernard Park and close to where the new Luas station is due to open in Phibsborough. Built in the early 1900s, Shandon Park is tree-lined and has a nice self-contained feel about it.
Agent DNG is asking €595,000 for what is a moderately sized house with a floor area of 110sq m (1,184sq ft) divided into three bedrooms, family/kitchen/dining space, reception room and family bathroom.
A reassuringly squarish sitting room is to the front. The floorboards are of polished hardwood and, as with the rest of the house, original features have been retained. In this room these can be seen in a picture rail, coving and very fine black marble fireplace with brass canopy. A polished wood floor in the entrance hall gets light and a certain grace from the red, green and yellow-leaded glass inset in the front door.
Light-filled extension
A rear extension has created a light-filled space with kitchen, dining and sitting areas. Retaining a black marble fireplace, the twin to that in the sittingroom, is a nice touch in the family area, as is a tiled wall. The kitchen has cleverly integrated fittings. The ceiling in the dining is partly glass and double glass doors lead to the south-facing garden. Lushly planted, this has bamboo, holly, ivy and laurel as well as a stone-floored patio, lawn and concrete shed.
The state-of-the-art bathroom, with a notable bath and slate floor, is also part of a rear extension. The deeply sunken bath sits under a glass roof; there is a separate shower. The bedrooms have picture rails, sash windows, built-in wardrobes and high ceilings. The main bedroom is to the rear and has distant mountain views over city rooftops.
