A "special illustrated home supplement" in the January 1935 issue of that terrific and now long defunct Irish women's magazine Model Housekeeping extolled the virtues of Mount Merrion Park, the new Kenny-built development in south Dublin.
The hook was the Electricity Demonstration House, showing off the comforts “that can only be secured in a house designed and built for the full service of electricity”. Nine different style houses were on offer on the newly laid out wide suburban roads with prices ranging from £720 to £1,150. Buyers were required to put down a deposit of a quarter of the value of the house – a significant sum. The largest houses were detached and with a maid’s room.
Number 39 Greenfield Road – now for sale – was the more modest A9 style and it cost £830. A semi-detached model with four bedrooms – one, as the ad says “with a nice bow”, a bathroom, separate WC, a living room, drawing room and kitchen”. This model was distinguished by its deep open porch to the front, described as being perfect for a pram “to take the healthy air at Mount Merrion”.
Writing about the development in the magazine the writer and journalist Maura Laverty recounts how she met “a woman purchaser who told me she would always bless the day she acquired her home if only because of the roses that have come to her erstwhile sickly baby’s cheeks”. Even the most flowery sales pitch these days wouldn’t make that promise.
Number 39 Greenfield Road has 142 sq m (1,528 sq ft), has been in the same family for 60 years, and is now an executors sale. The surprise in these houses is that they are only one room deep, although the site is wide, incorporating a garage to the side. Kenny and his architect Rupert Jones were keen on letting as much light in as possible and the views from a large window in the landing is a reminder that Mount Merrion is built on an elevated site.
The house has been updated and well cared for, there are new windows for example, but new owners will likely undertake a major renovation including a kitchen extension to the rear. Whatever they do, it won’t impact too much on the mature 28m-long back garden.
Many appealing 1930s features are still in situ, including the tiled oak fireplace in the living room and the chrome door handles. There is a garage to the side and off-street parking for several cars to the front. It is for sale through DNG for €950,000.
