Bigger, better, brighter: four great extensions

Space, light and storage are some of the benefits reaped by extending four Dublin houses, including this deceptively spacious cottage in the heart of ‘Googletown’

Gordon Street is in the heart of Googletown, the part of Dublin 4 and 2 that straddles Grand Canal Dock and is home to Google, Facebook and Twitter.

Number 43 is the first of the single-storey cottages in the street and sits mid terrace adjacent to the rest of the street, which is laid out in two-storey red-brick terraced houses.

The cottage, which would have originally been described as bijou,was renovated in 2011 with a surprisingly roomy two-storey extension added to the rear by Patrick Lynch of House 7 Architects. The property now measures 69sq m (745 sq ft). It is for sale at €380,000 through Sherry FitzGerald.

The front door opens directly into the sitting room, an oak-floored small space that overlooks the street.

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Steps lead down to the large and light-filled eat-in kitchen which includes a sizeable island and glazing that overlooks the tiny yard to the rear that has been softened with by bamboo planting.

The rear is west-facing but high walls and high-rise development mean it gets little direct sun.

The kitchen benefits from the aspect and is light-filled.

Relative to the size of the house there is a good-size utility/storage room under the stairs. The family bathroom, which has a mechanical vent, is beside the kitchen.

Upstairs are two neat-sized double bedrooms overlooking the rear. The main has a shower en suite.

Neither has built-in storage of any note. Instead a storage room with a roof light set under the eaves to the front of the house has built-in wardrobes that facilitate both rooms. The storage room is also home to a mezzanine bed. A window would really transform this space.

Kevin Hughes, a consultant with Hughes Planning Development, believes there is a “reasonably good” chance the next owner will get planning to install a conservation-area friendlier Velux window, that sits flush with the roof tiles rather than protruding.

Number 32, a two-bedroom, two-storey, end-of-terrace house, sold in April 2012 for €165,000; 39 sold for €185,000 that December and 1 Gordon Street, an end-of-terrace, single-storey artisan cottage in need of refurbishment has gone sale agreed through Owen Reilly. It had a price of €190,000.