Down a very narrow street lined with tiny terraced houses in Dublin’s East Wall lies Number 9 Hawthorn Avenue. You can’t miss it – it’s the one with the large number “9″ stencilled on its side wall. You might imagine it’s the kind of house where you couldn’t swing a cat, but inside Number 9 there’s plenty of room for lots of swinging cats to happily convene, and lots of on-trend furnishings to make those cats feel right at home.
The original house was a small redbrick, built in the early 1900s, which had fallen into dereliction. Developer Adrian Richards built an entire new house from scratch on the site of the old house and its adjoining alleyway, turning it into a spacious family home that extends to 198sq m (2,131sq ft), with copious kitchen-living area, four large bedrooms – two en suite – and a garage built into the footprint of the house that comes complete with EV charging point. He built it in the style of a west London mews, and standing inside Number 9, you can easily imagine you’re in Chiswick, Hammersmith or South Kensington.
The only trace of the original house can be seen at the front: a few of the original red bricks, distinguishable by their darker colour. This is the third house Richards has built or renovated in East Wall: he previously completed 107 Church Road and 23 Hawthorn Terrace, and he believes the area has the potential to become one of Dublin’s most sought-after addresses. Certainly a house like number 9 will increase the overall appeal of living in the area and, the estate agent reckons, may even be a game-changer in terms of house values in this docklands enclave.
“It’s a lot like where I grew up in Lancashire,” says Richards. “Everyone knows each other, and I’ve got to know so many people here.”
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The interiors have all been finished to high standards by Richards’s wife, designer Iseult Reid, who has taken her passion for opulent mid-century minimalist style and run with it. The floors of the long, welcoming hallway are laid with brightly decorated ceramic tiles, while the kitchen-living area is laid with beautifully crafted herringbone wood floors. A large island unit forms the centrepiece of the kitchen, and there are brass light fittings and recessed spotlights along the split-level space. Two floor-to-ceiling glass panels lead out to a cosy, private landscaped back garden and patio, complete with raised flowerbeds, built-in benches and low-maintenance artificial grass.
The artwork on the walls will amuse movie buffs and Game of Thrones fans – they can enjoy guessing which classic movies are being referenced in the various framed pictures, and try to name all the GoT characters in the small portraits lining the hallway.
Three bedrooms take up the first floor, with one on the second floor giving panoramic views over north Dublin. There’s room for a super king size bed in all rooms, and no shortage of storage space – Richards made use of every spare cubic centimetre, creating recessed areas around the house that could easily be used to hang clothes, stack books or display artwork.
There’s a fine big family bathroom on the first floor, plus a guest toilet off the hallway. The garage unfortunately means that you don’t have a separate reception room to the front, but you can’t beat the convenience of being able to park and charge your car off the street. If you don’t use a car, the garage can quickly become a home gym or yoga room. Between them, the husband-and-wife team of Richards and Reid have created something that nicely combines boutique hotel elegance with family home comfort.
East Wall is certainly an up-an-coming area, with no shortage of artisan eateries and an overall sense of community. It’s just a short walk to the IFSC, Silicon Docks and 3Arena, and not far from Bus, Luas and Dart routes. And within minutes you can be at the Port Tunnel on your way to the airport or through the East Link bridge heading south.
Number 9 Hawthorn Avenue, East Wall, Dublin extends to 198sq m (2,131sq ft) and has a Ber of B2. It’s for sale through Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty, with an asking price of €645,000.
