Simple design transformed number 35 Church Avenue into what it is today: a bright refurbished home with pared-back clean lines. “To be honest I bought a refurbished property as I had a small child at the time and needed a house in turnkey condition,” says the owner, who is now moving west.
Potential buyers today will also have the option of a turnkey home, which the owner improved over the years since its purchase in 2017.
“It had original sash windows and I got advice on whether to restore them. The answer was that it was not feasible so I replaced them with new wooden sash windows with brass fittings. I also put new gravel and railings out front, which can be compared on Google Maps to the way it was before.”
To the front lies a livingroom warmed by a period fireplace with new oak flooring underfoot, which is continued in an adjacent livingroom. This space – essentially lying in the centre of the house – was in a previous life the principal diningroom for the property. It’s now a comfortable space to relax on the corner sofa in front of a stove, while still being able to keep an eye on the goings on in the back garden or, indeed, the kitchen.
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The kitchen is bright and airy thanks to a skylight and French doors that open out to the south-facing back garden, which has an elevated lawn and patio.
For some the dining space in the kitchen may be too small for large dinner parties, but with two livingrooms it is easy enough to reconfigure for those who want a dining space for entertaining.
Upstairs are two double bedrooms, the principal of which spans the width of the house and has a feature cast-iron fireplace and original, though now polished, wooden floors.
Also at this level is a good-sized family bathroom with an original full-sized bath.
“I had planned to replace the Stira with a more permanent structure had I stayed in Dublin, as I would have made a home office up there,” says the owner of the floored attic with under-eaves storage.
The owner says the neighbours are “really lovely” and she has loved how the back garden is a suntrap “from one end of the day to another”.
Its location in Drumcondra – known by some as “the Ranelagh of the north side” – is close to Griffith Park, the Botanic Gardens and a good selection of schools.
The bright and airy 88sq m (947sq ft) house, which has a C2 Ber, is now on the market through Sherry FitzGerald, seeking €585,000.
