Killiney: €1.6m A Victorian era semi on nearly half an acre - although requiring extensive refurbishment - could make a fine family home, writes Eivlín Roden.
A large five-bedroom Victorian house beside Killiney Hill in need of refurbishment is for auction through Lisney on March 15th with a guide price of €1.6 million.
An air of enchantment presides over the property which is accessed through wrought-iron gates and stone pillars at the corner of Claremont Road and Killiney Hill Road near Killiney village and the Druid's Chair pub.
It sits on 0.46 of an acre with extensive road frontage and the possibility of building a separate dwelling subject to planning permission.
This is an executor's sale and the winding drive is overgrown with trees and shrubs, but it opens up in front of the double fronted semi-detached house. The 1850 house was probably one house at one stage, but it has been divided in a very sympathetic way and you would be almost unaware of your neighbour.
While this is a very spacious house at 260 sq m (2,800 sq ft), it still has a compact air, due to its attractive layout.
Entering through a Victorian portico with a solid door and arched side windows, the first thing to strike you is the surprising amount of light. Almost all the rooms have two windows and a fine shallow treaded staircase leads up through the centre of the house from an inner hall.
On either side are two reception rooms with a very large drawingroom beyond on one side.
The back two rooms at this level belong to the kitchen quarters and are accessed through a door at the back of the hall.
One is a kitchen, but it would need to be completely refitted and new owners might consider opening up much of this space.
Opposite them are a spacious scullery, a pantry and a cloakroom and there is also access to a double garage from here.
Half way up the staircase, the return has enough room for a large bathroom and a bedroom, and both have two windows in adjoining walls. There is a separate wc at this level.
The basic square shape of the house makes for a very well proportioned first floor on which there are four fine bedrooms, two to the front and two to the back, leading from a roomy landing.
The main bedroom is 19ft 4ins by 17ft 1in, and has three large windows and a cast-iron fireplace, while the smallest of the four is a good square at 14ft 1in by 13ft.
Outside, most of the large garden is to the front, and is completely overgrown with self-seed cherry trees and various large shrubs. The back of the house has a fair sized back yard and is walled by the boundary wall to Glenalua Road, while the garage opens onto Killiney Hill Road.
This could be a labour of love as renovation would bring this lovely family house back to its elegant heyday.
It still has most of its period details - such as working shutters, high ceilings with moulded cornices and good cast-iron fireplaces.
The main rooms, however, do not have the marble fireplaces suitable to a house of this type, but the staircase and the black and white marble floor in the hall are original.
