A coloured map of Belgrave Square in Rathmines, dated 1872-97 and drawn by J Holmes, Architect, of 11 Fleet Street, Dublin, indicates “building sites”, lessors and leaseholders. Among the latter is one John Holmes, who seems to have leased the greater part of the square, to the north of where the Swan river crossed it, from July 16th, 1859.
A short time after that arrangement was made — it’s noted in pencil on the map — numbers 45 to 47 were built to complete the northwest corner, close to where the square joins Castlewood Avenue. The paperwork relating to Number 45 will also be examined closely when the current owners exchange contracts with its new buyers; the four-bedroom, 279 sq m (3,000sq ft) house is now for sale through Owen Reilly with an asking price of €2.2 million.
It is close to the many shops, schools and amenities of Rathmines and Ranelagh, with the Luas and buses just a short walk away and an entrance to the square opposite the gate. When they bought it in 2019, for €1.25 million according to the Property Price Register, the house was in three units, with the garden level in two flats and the former owner living above. Having done up another old house nearby, the current owner worked with the same architectural and building team to renovate and extend this property to a 288 sq m (3,100 sq ft) family home, and a selection of the 250 photographs he took to document the process are framed and displayed.
Describing the mutual trust he and his wife built with the builder, Jason Doyle of Jemi Construction, and the architect, James Delahunty of DNH Architects, he describes finding the original kitchen hearth behind the plaster; rotten timbers were replaced, the walls were rendered with specialist plaster and then damp-proofed and insulated throughout.
The proportions of the Ber-exempt house, which is a protected structure, are grand, with the ceilings in the hall and the two interconnecting reception rooms exceeding 14ft in height. The front room faces east and the same soft green colour continues throughout this level, setting off the well-preserved plasterwork and, in the rear room, a graceful classical motif on the fireplace.
At the end of the hall, past a guest bathroom and through neat sliding doors, the architects came up with a novel solution to light the return, inserting a library with glass balustrade beside the stairs to garden level, where the property comes to life. It’s a huge open-plan space for dining, playing and relaxing, with smart navy kitchen units by Brian Dempsey forming a large block in the centre, and plenty of rooflights overhead.
A large, well-planned utility room runs alongside this, with a child-friendly bathroom off the corridor and a bedroom at the front. The back garden, accessed through bifolding doors by Alucraft, has limestone paving, seating for evening sun, a lawn edged by planting along the black limestone walls, and a wooden replica of a John Deere tractor incorporating a slide.
Upstairs, a bedroom on the half-landing, where the ceiling is more than 16ft high, is used as an office, and a double on the next level also looks towards the back. The original main bathroom is now an en suite for the principal bedroom and the family bathroom occupies half of — and draws light from — what was originally a bedroom. The other half of this space is a dressingroom, with its own window looking out to the square; this creates an uncluttered room painted a soft blush pink.
Set back from the quiet roadside behind railings and a gravelled front garden — there is disc parking outside — this home, whose owners are relocating abroad for work reasons, is ready for a new family to park their scooters and walk into.
