At the heart of Dublin 4, three roads – Ailesbury, Shrewsbury and Merrion – intersect to form an almost perfect golden triangle lined with some of Ireland’s most expensive and elegant houses. The most opulent of these are splendid Victorian and Edwardian mansions, favoured by the diplomatic corps and the rich. By the palatial standards of this Ballsbridge neighbourhood, No 152 Merrion Road is not quite in the premier league and could, reasonably, be described as “bog-standard”, to borrow the recent Orwellian lingo of the New Land League.
Its architectural style is distinctly post-colonial – classic, mid-20th-century Irish suburban. The six-bedroom semi-detached house is for sale, by private treaty, through Turley Property Advisors with an asking price of €2.7 million. That's almost 50 per cent less than the €5.2 million paid by the current owners when it was purchased 10 years ago. The couple, who are now downsizing, have maintained the house in turn-key condition.
Corner site
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The 353sq m (3,800sq ft) house, on a corner site adjacent to Merlyn Park (on to which there is a separate gated entrance), is shielded by electric gates opening into a gravelled courtyard with plenty of parking space.
The ground floor – with a mix of marble, oak, pine and cherrywood flooring – has a large hallway, reception rooms on either side, a study and, to the rear, a large, open-plan extension combining a bespoke John Daly kitchen and dining and living areas. The pretty back garden is, consequently, smaller than expected.
On the first floor, the bay-windowed, L-shaped en-suite master bedroom features a marble fireplace with a gas fire and built-in wardrobes, also by John Daly. There are three other bedrooms on this floor – two of them en-suite – and a separate bathroom.
Two further bedrooms – up a short flight of stairs – are also en-suite. If metering kicks in, Irish Water bills are likely to be steep. But such a consideration is unlikely to deter buyers in this price bracket.
Despite the almost constant flow of traffic on Merrion Road, the house and garden are well-shielded and surprisingly tranquil.
No 152 is primarily about “location, location, location”. It’s a classic house for an affluent buyer seeking a luxury family home in Dublin 4.
