The owners of 64 Woodlawn Park in Churchtown are serial renovators, having picked up the renovating bug while living in Australia, where they first learned about filling houses with light. In their 30 years of married life they have refurbished 10 homes – the thought of which will bring most readers out in a rash.
It is a testament to their approach that they are still married, as building works are one of the big causes of friction in a union.
The family bought the house in 2008 and did much of the work then, reworking the bathrooms in 2010 and one recently. And the house is now a harmoniously balanced affair with a third room added to the original two interconnecting rooms.
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Sliding doors
These three spaces flow from one to the other with pocket sliding doors opening the sitting room to a second lounge. Louvered doors can shut these spaces from the rear but when folded open the draw the eye down to the extension, a well-proportioned space painted a warm, summery blue.
It is lofty and light-filled, thanks in part to the symmetrical use of roof lights on the double-height pitched ceiling, but what will particularly wow viewers is the full gable wall of glazing that opens the room to the house’s really special feature: the garden.
Designed by one of the couple's children, Simon Madigan, when he was just 18, it shows a talent of which we will hear more. Madigan won a scholarship to study landscape architecture at Harvard and has just joined global design firm Arcadis in its London offices.
Savvy neighbours should be offering to pay for his flights home and booking him in to do their gardens while he is still affordable.
It is the simplicity of the garden and the fact that it is very carefully planted that make it so appealing. It has railway sleeper raised beds, with a gravelled dining area with some of its mature trees made into a feature.
Luas track
The rest of the space is laid out in lawn. The Luas track runs along the back of the garden and, while run on electricity, is noisy enough to be discernible, although one suspects one would get used to this and tune it out over time.
The garden room opens through to the breakfast room, which is lit from above by a lantern roof. The Nolan Kitchen painted-wood units have Carrara marble worktops, and an electric stove and electric Aga add personality to the neutral cream paintscape.
There are four bedrooms. The master overlooks the garden and has a shower en-suite. A mid-century spiral staircase, original to the house, which was built in 1953, leads up to a dormer room with an adjoining shower room.
The house measures 189sq m (2,036sq ft) and is asking €925,000 through agents DNG. The property is situated near Windy Arbour Luas station, which is about a five-minute walk away.
