Six – out of 29 – houses are for sale on Eaton Square now that another period house there has come on the market, writes FRANCES O'ROURKE
EATON SQUARE in Monkstown, Co Dublin, is not anything like as grand as its near neighbour, Belgrave Square, but its collection of mainly terraced or semi-detached Victorian and Edwardian redbricks and its convenience make it a good address.
It’s a short walk from the square, sandwiched between busy Monkstown Road and the coast road, to Seapoint Dart station. Many south Dubliners know Eaton as the location of Scoil Lorcáin, an Irish language national school.
About one-fifth of the 29 houses on the square are up for sale at the moment, and now number 11, a distinctive detached house built in the mid-19th century on the east side of the square, has been put on the market by Lisney for €985,000.
The sale of number 11 brings to six the number of houses up for sale on Eaton, at prices ranging from €890,000 to €2.3 million, reflecting the variety of houses there.
A number of these have been on the market for a year or more, with vendors reducing prices over that time. But houses at the €1m-plus end of the market have been hit hardest by the collapse in property prices and sales are hard to achieve.
Number 11 is bright, spacious and full of period features like marble and cast-iron fireplaces and handsome plasterwork. It has been renovated in recent years but is unusual in that its garden level basement is owned separately and is not for sale. (It was divided like this when its current owner, who is now downsizing, bought it years ago.)
There is still 185sq m (2,000sq ft) of space in the top two storeys: on the bottom floor there is the usual grand hall with a high corniced arch and stairs leading to the first floor where a large drawingroom looks over Eaton Square through a big bay window.
In all, there are four bedrooms in number 11, and five, if one of two receptions rooms on the bottom floor is used as a bedroom. The diningroom/sittingroom and kitchen are also at this level. There is a bedroom/study on the return, and access down stairs to the large walled back garden from here.
The back garden is not shared with the basement apartment, which has sole use of the front and side gardens.
The green square at the centre of Eaton is maintained and used by residents, who are all keyholders.
11 Eaton Square, Monkstown, Co Dublin
Renovated four/five-bed house being sold without separately-owned basement
Agent: Lisney
