Located just off the South Circular Road and Clanbrassil Street, Lombard Street West is in a part of Dublin 8 that combines the convenience of Portobello and the city centre, with the feeling of a settled suburb. The area is known for its concentration of good restaurants, independent cafes and specialist retailers. It’s a short walk to town, the Phoenix Park, the canal, the Liffey and the Luas are close by, and there are quite a few schools in the locality.
There are not so many two-storey houses on this cherry-tree-lined Victorian street, but number 62 is one. It’s close to the end of a terrace of seven two-bay houses built about 1880, whose brick facades and detailing are described in some detail in the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage.
Set back from the footpath behind a small railed garden, it has a straightforward plan; one principal room on each floor, a shallow return and a single-storey extension on the ground floor.
The dark blue panelled door opens to a long hall with a simple arch. The original floorboards have been sanded and polished.
To the left is a reception room that the owner occasionally used for work but is now the third bedroom. It has ceiling coving, original shutters and a lovely decorative cast-iron fireplace which, like most of those in the house, has been painted to match the vivid walls that characterise the property, which has been let for a few years.
Upstairs, the second and third bedrooms are in the return, off the half-landings. These also have fireplaces and original floorboards, but all the windows have been replaced. The livingroom spans the width of the first floor, with two windows framing the view over the street and the city spires. It’s a fine bright livingroom with ceiling coving and a centre rose, as well as built-in shelving and a further decorative fireplace.
The best place to start thinking about restoring and upgrading the 115sq m (1,237sq ft) property is probably down a few steps from the hall, where a diningroom in the original part of the house leads to the flat-roofed extension with kitchen and bathroom and a little utility lobby. The Ber is E1.
Outside, the south-facing town garden is largely covered in decking, with plants in big pots, and from here the possibilities are apparent in neighbouring properties. Updating the kitchen will be a priority, and there is scope to build all the way across the ground floor or to build out the return on at least one floor and add an upstairs bathroom, or to reconfigure the interior within the original footprint – all subject to planning permission.
A gate at the end of the garden opens to a lane along the rear of the property, and there is disc parking on the street. Number 62 is for sale through Felicity Fox with an asking price of €875,000.
