The appeal of Rathfarnham’s further reaches are its winding secret roads that can often give the impression of being in the middle of the country rather than in parts of a capital city.
It has attracted all manner of low-key well-to-dos, including U2’s Adam Clayton, who enjoy large homes on extensive grounds. Some of these are visible from Whitechurch Road, where number 237 Whitechurch Cottages is located. It is a different sort of home – one of a collection of low-slung, cut-stone cottages, built for workers at nearby Marlay Park.
Accessed via a shared driveway to which the house to the rear has a right of way, the original cottage has been completely reconfigured and more than doubled in size. On entry, the original cut-stone walls are visible in part of the entrance hall, floored in square terracotta tiles, and also bordering the corridor down to the accommodation.
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The living room and kitchen are located in extensions added by a previous owner and lead off the smartly tiled hall. The living room, standing to the left, is set around a large country-style chimney breast housing a solid fuel stove. The chimney breast has been painted an after dark shade of deep mauve.
All the rooms have good ceiling heights in keeping with the original property.
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Doors lead off into a sunroom to the rear, a good-size space that was upgraded from an existing conservatory, and through to the kitchen, where timber units are painted a soothing shade of sage green. Coloured glass splashbacks, a fashion that has really stood the test of time here, add additional impact. The large window over the sink is framed with hand-painted ceramic tiles to create a feature, a simple idea that has been well executed.
Steps from the entrance hall lead down a corridor lit from above by a roof light where two of the property’s four bedrooms are situated, one single and one double.
A door to the right opens into a square room with a vaulted ceiling warmed by a gas-fuelled stove and where the property’s original front entrance has been turned into a feature window. This is the original part of the cottage and off it are two bedrooms and a shower room. This would make a great kids’ room or den and in effect give them their own wing within the house.
Measuring 162sq m (1,776sq ft) number 237 is seeking €645,000 through agent SherryFitzGerald.
The property has a decent-sized southerly garden to the rear and Grange Golf Club is just a short drive away.