The popularity of Monkstown soared in the 1830s, when the train line was extended from Dublin out to near the Purty Kitchen. William Dargan, Ireland's greatest railway engineer, laid the first sleepers on this section of the track. It is said he came up with the idea after watching a blacksmith place a block of wood under an anvil. So he called his house, and now the girls' school, Mount Anville.
Just around the corner from the world's first use of wooden railway sleepers is 9 Vesey Place, an elegant double-fronted Victorian property where, nearly 200 years after their invention, wooden railway sleepers are used in landscaping to allow more light into the rooms at garden level.
The house, which stretches to 390sq m over three floors, is currently laid out as a self-contained two-bedroom apartment at garden level, with a four-bedroom house upstairs. Rental income for the apartment is about €1,700 per month.
0 of 4
The apartment was renovated five years ago and is in good condition. The staircase leading from the upper floor has been closed off, but could easily be reinstated should new owners require all three floors.
Upstairs, the house enjoys three high-ceilinged reception rooms. The drawing room extends to the entire depth of the property and has impressive coving. Among the house’s finest features are a colossal oriel window overlooking the rear garden, and arched windows that lie on the return and in the front porch.
Move kitchen
The interiors are a bit jaded; new owners will more than likely move the kitchen and living space to garden level and retain upstairs as formal rooms.
Views to the front are of Willow Bank Park. To the rear are lovely vistas of the spire of Dún Laoghaire’s Presbyterian Church.
The front garden has been given a recent overhaul, with neat box hedging around tall camellias. The rear garden with a southerly aspect extends to 20m has much potential.
The 390sq m Victorian is on the market through Sherry FitzGerald with an asking price of €1.85 million. Nos 20 and 21, with 353sq m and 430sq m, are also for sale for €995,000 and €1.05 million respectively, but both need a significant amount work as they are laid out as flats.
No 15, in turnkey condition, sold last July for €1.47 million, but has less room (337sq m) and is not double fronted.
