A small late 19th century artisan cottage in Glasthule, Co Dublin, has been completely modernised and extended over the past three years.
The owner, with the help of an architect, did much of the work, and using top materials – solid oak flooring, Silestone countertop, Villeroy & Boch sanitary ware – has turned this small 50sq m (538sq ft) space into a very stylish modern home.
The house is towards the back of a small group of houses opposite the Harold School on Eden Road. Terraced artisan cottages, built as local authority homes in the 1890s, line both sides of Coldwell Street.
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Number 15 is about halfway up: the zinc-clad second storey added at the rear has been discreetly done and isn’t immediately obvious from the front.
A bright red timber door opens directly into the living room/kitchen/dining room, facing the unrailed oak staircase that leads to the top floor.
It’s a bright room, painted a pale blue-ish grey: there are lots of recessed lights in the ceiling, dimmer-controlled from a central light switch, a Velux window as well as a sash window at the front and a good-sized window at the back looking into the tiny rear courtyard.
Smaller form
All the windows in the house are double glazed, wooden inside and alu-clad outside. The fireplace has a new large pale stone mantel and a polished black granite hearth.
The kitchen, from Kelly Design in Dalkey, is very neatly tucked into the top right of the room, and has nearly everything large modern houses have but in smaller form: there's a slimline Miele dishwasher, for example, and a small pale blue Aga.
The small guest room/second bedroom has a large mirror-fronted floor-to-ceiling wardrobe and sliding glass double doors into the courtyard, big enough to park the owner’s bike.
Upstairs, the under-eaves double bedroom has two sets of built-in wardrobes; the really smart grey-tiled and painted bathroom has a curved bath and shower.
The bedroom window opens on to the roof below and there is planning permission to turn this into a rooftop patio garden, as neighbours a few doors down have done.
Coldwell Street is a very short walk to Sandycove Dart station and close to shops in Glasthule and the seafront.
