Sandymount / €5m: An imposing house with a 250ft garden was once used to house senior Bank of Ireland staff. Property Editor Orna Mulcahy reports
An imposing Edwardian redbrick semi-detached house on 0.4 of an acre at 70 Park Avenue in Sandymount, Dublin 4, is likely to sell well above Lisney's advised minimum value (AMV) of €5 million when it is auctioned by Tom Day on March 9th.
Recent sales in the area have seen similar redbricks with smaller gardens top the €5 million mark, notably on Claremont Road, at the other end of Sandymount village.
Park Avenue is considered the neighbourhood's top address and its houses have some of the best gardens in the city.
Number 70 is no exception, with a garden that stretches over 250ft and plenty of space at the front and side of the house for parking.
It's located on what is also considerd the best stretch of the road, between Sydney Parade Avenue and St John's Church, where houses rarely come on the market.
Inside, the layout has changed very little since the current owners bought it from the Bank of Ireland around 30 years ago. The bank had used it to accommodate senior staff and had extended it considerably.
It's an impressive house - solid and a little staid in the way that a house can seem when the children have grown up and moved away.
The proportions are grand, with two very fine interconnecting rooms for big occasions. Both rooms have high ceilings, tall sash windows and and ornate open fireplaces, and are divided by high folding doors.
On the other side of the hall is a cosy study lit by a window at the side of the house.
Steps lead down to a big bright kitchen leading to a family room that's part of a large extension added by the bank.
There is more than enough space to extend yet again, so new owners will have plenty of options to colonise the vast patio at the back of the house.
You can drive a car from the front of the house through a gate to the side, where there is a large workshop separate to the house.
Upstairs off the first landing is a deep return that houses two bedrooms and a bathroom.
The top floor has a further three bedrooms, the main bedroom which mirrors the drawingroom below having its own en suite.
There is also a separate toilet, with a tall window framing a view of the road.
Unlikely many a rambling redbrick of its day, this is a remarkably bright house thanks to its tall well-placed sash windows.
It's not on the sunny side of the road, but with a garden of this size, the sun is always shining somewhere, throughout the day.
