Shandon Drive is in one of Dublin 7’s most popular estates. It has a residents’ committee, hosts an annual sports day and throws street parties, with each road in the estate taking its turn to host festivities.
There is carol singing at Christmas, trick-or-treating at Halloween and sometimes they even organise a bonfire.
Shandon Drive is a charming, leafy, redbrick cul de sac that feels light years from the hustle of Phibsboro main street. Number 38 is a modern three-bedroom end-of-terrace house built within a period redbrick shell. Work was completed in 2011. It is now for sale at €495,000 through DNG.
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The front door has a stained-glass panel copied from a neighbour’s original door. This leads through to the heart of the house where there is a large, open-plan kitchen in vanilla gloss with black granite countertops.
A wall of glazing includes double doors that open onto a decked exterior. The glass curves draw the eye out to the new part of the house via a sunny and shelf-lined corridor.
This design, by Aba Architects, turns the negative of a northwest-facing rear into a positive by creating a courtyard that rotates the back of the house around to face the sun. In this extension is a garden room with double doors opening outside and a shower room.
Steps take you down to the basement where there is an enormous utility room with enough space for two clothes horses to stand next to each other.
In the property’s engine room, behind this, is an Eta Biomass Boiler, the Mercedes of boilers,which is powered by wood pellets.
The energy-efficient mechanical and electrical engineering system cost €70,000, estimates owner Michael Manzke, an assistant professor of computer sciences at Trinity College Dublin (his primary degree is in engineering).
It may have been expensive to install, but heating bills for the house are €1,200 for a property that measures more than 180sq m (1,937.5sq ft).
There is also under-floor heating, high insulation and solar panels to help keep heating costs down (the house has a B2 energy rating).
Secreted off the kitchen to the front of the house, and accessed via sliding opaque glass doors, is a very cosy sitting room with a French limestone fireplace.
Upstairs, during renovations, Manzke moved the original walls back slightly to make the original period rooms bigger.
The main bedroom is to the rear and has large picture windows overlooking a pitch and putt green.
From here you can see the O’Connell tower in Glasnevin Cemetery.
There are two more bedrooms to the front, one with bunkbeds designed by Manzke. The other has a mezzanine area accessed by a steep but stylish steps. There are solid wooden floors throughout.
