This is an opportunity that doesn’t come up very often in Dublin 4: a chance to own a beautifully extended and refurbished end-terrace period house in the centre of Ballsbridge, along with two mews houses.
Number 23 Elgin Road is a two-storey-over-garden four-bedroom Victorian home measuring 416sq m (4,478sq ft), completely redesigned as an ideal home for entertaining guests in comfort and style.
The two mews houses at numbers 1 and 2 Clyde Lane, measuring 146sq m (1,570sq ft) and 95sq m (1,020 sq ft) respectively, have also been meticulously redesigned as luxury guest accommodation, so if you have deep pockets, and you’re looking for a place in the heart of the city’s embassy belt where you can host fabulous parties and have plenty of room to put your guests up for the weekend, this could be the perfect prospect for you.
The properties have been brought to market as a lot of three, seeking €7.75 million through Knight Frank.
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A lot of thought and imagination has gone into the design details of number 23. Interior designer Jane Gilloway was commissioned by the current owner to completely reimagine the house, and she has included some showstopping touches, including the sturdy cast-iron radiators, the Japanese-style wood finishes in the two smaller bedrooms, and the stunning Paonazzo honed marble worktops and splashbacks in the kitchen/breakfastroom.
There are two large reception rooms at hall level; the drawingroom to the front has two picture sash windows with shutters, a white marble fireplace and Jacobean stained-timber floors, while the lounge/den to the back is painted in a rich, warm Hamilton blue from antique paint experts Benjamin Moore. A surround-sound system runs throughout the house, with speakers in the reception rooms and bedrooms.
The garden level can be entered via a covered side passage, and here you’ll find the large in-frame fitted kitchen/breakfastroom, with a reeded-oak island with aged brass legs. The marble countertops give the entire kitchen an extra dazzle. The kitchen leads into a diningroom with wood-burning stove, and wide steps lead down to a glass-filled rear extension looking out to the back garden.
The extension was added by a previous owner, a builder, in around 2007, and consists of a substantial media room to the back, spanning 11m, with exposed granite walls, plus a three-storey return at the side of the house with a beautifully engineered cliffhanger exterior wall in red sandstone. The current owner has put a fully equipped bar in the media room, plus a large wine room. A pool table takes centre stage here, completing this unique entertainment space.
The return has two bedroom suites that mirror each other, one above the other, and are designed specifically for guests staying overnight or for the weekend. Gilloway really made the most of the space here, and used her design eye to create two superb rooms that would trump anything a five-star hotel could offer. A floor-to-ceiling pane looks out to the front but – hey presto! – a touch of a switch and the glass is instantly frosted for privacy. The lower of the two bedrooms also has a small balcony overlooking the back garden.
The main bedroom also looks out to the back garden, and has sash windows and a feature marble fireplace; the fourth bedroom to the front has been turned into a luxurious dressingroom, with fitted wardrobe and storage units. The main bathroom completes this almost self-contained section of the house.
The south-facing rear garden has a granite patio and AstroTurf lawn, and there’s an added feature: a deluxe home office measuring 20sq m and fitted with kitchenette and en suite.
A path winds down to number 2 Clyde Lane, one of the two mews houses attached to the property. It’s a two-bedroom detached house with a bright, open-plan kitchen/living area, with a bay window and seating looking out to the front, and two sets of double French doors opening out to a raised timber deck patio at the back. There’s also an attic room that would make a great den or yoga space.
Number 1, a three-bed, is the larger of the two mews properties, thanks to a double bedroom extension to the back. The entrance hall has a half-oak slatted wall, partitioning it from the open-plan kitchen/livingroom; the kitchen is finished in a soft white high gloss, with marble countertop and splashback, bespoke island and large ceramic floor tiles and the livingroom has a slatted wood wall and wood-burning stove, and double sliding doors out to an internal courtyard.
