A Victorian house in D6 has been elegantly refurbished, says Orna Mulcahy
Lisney is quoting a guide price of €2.4 million for a five-bedroom house at 7 Leeson Park in Dublin 6 prior to auction on March 23rd. The Victorian semi-detached house is close to the junction with Appian Way and comes with a good-sized westerly garden plus a mews-style garage with direct access to Chelmsford Avenue.
This is a fine period property that will appeal to househunters who want a grand and convenient townhouse but who aren't ready to make the leap to, say, Ailesbury Road or Wellington Road. Lisney's guide price is conservative though, and the sale price is likely to be a good deal higher. A similar-sized house on nearby Northbrook Road recently fetched €2.4 million at auction through Jackson-Stops, though it needed refurbishment.
By contrast, number 7 is an extremly comfortable and elegant house with superb reception rooms, a good kitchen-cum-livingroom on the ground floor, and enough bedrooms for family and staff. It has a floor area of around 355 sq m (3,830 sq ft) while the garage with loft over head has an additional 65 sq m (700 sq ft). There is parking for at least three cars in front of the house, and steps lead up to the front door opening into a typical Victorian hallway. These days, fashionable hallways tend to be all cream paint and limestone floors, but here the walls are covered in a muted grey William Morris-style paper that suddenly looks a good deal smarter.
Likewise, the interconnecting reception rooms to the right are very elegant with strong mustard coloured walls and cream paintwork. It works because both are big well-proportioned rooms, with impressive marble fireplaces and tall windows allowing lots of light to come through. Steps lead down from the rear hall to a small study with a view of the back garden. There is also a door to the garden at this level.
Down again to the ground floor, where there is one surprising feature - a 50 ft garden room at the side of the house that is really just the side passageway roofed over, with a sandstone floor and lots of radiators. The owners have used this for parties, and it's also a good storage area as well as providing access from front to back gardens without having to tramp through the house.
The kitchen is at the front and it's a big bright room with attractive units, a big island, and plenty of space for dining. Leading off it is a comfortable family room with French doors to the garden. There is also a utility area off the kitchen under the front steps. The small bedroom and shower room complete the accommodation on this floor.
Upstairs, the first landing leads to a smart bathroom with marble surrounding the bath. There is a fine main bedroom suite on the first floor with the bedroom leading to a spacious bathroom.
There are two further double bedrooms on this floor, and a fourth room on the top return. The garden has a tiled pathway leading down to a large terracotta-tiled patio. This structure has an up-and-over garage door but is used as extra accommodation with a livingroom-cum-kitchen downstairs and a mezzanine bedroom overhead. It can be accessed both from the garden and through a cute little street door that opens directly from Chelmsford Avenue.
