Fairfield Park is one of Dublin City Council’s smaller public parks. The rectangle of grass, trees and shrubs surrounded by railings on the Rathgar village end of Highfield Road looks like a smaller version of the many private squares around Dublin 6. Indeed it may have started off that way when the terraces of Victorian houses that border just two sides of the park were built in the late 1800s or it could have once been the garden of a larger, older house in the vicinity. Whatever its origins, it is now in the charge of the council and so it is maintained by it.
Number 2 Fairfield Park, one of the houses in the terrace parallel with Highfield Road, looks out on the park, and is now for sale through DNG with an asking price of €1.2 million. As is the way with many Victorian houses, this redbrick is bigger than it looks, with three storeys to the rear, bay windows to the front and a deep return allowing for five bedrooms and 246sq m (2650sq ft), although that measurement does include the converted attic which is used as an additional bedroom but is not counted as such for planning purposes.
Another surprising feature is the 33m back garden – it has the potential for vehicular access out onto the back lane and from the upstairs windows you can see that several of the neighbours in the terrace have built garages or workrooms or perhaps home offices at the end of their gardens without eating too deeply into the outdoor space.
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The owners, who have lived here for 27 years, are downsizing and it’s the first time in many years that a house on this terrace has come up for sale.
The house was, for a period in the 1970s, divided into flats but when the present owners bought it, it had already been converted back into a family home. A major renovation job they did was to rework the back return to make a large eat-in kitchen with access out to the back garden and to make room for a downstairs toilet and utility space. They also converted the attic.
More recent updating included upgrading insulation and installing beautiful stained glass panels in the front door.
There are two interconnecting reception rooms – only one has its original fireplace – and a single door out to the back patio.
New owners who don’t need so many bedrooms might consider knocking the two bedrooms at the front of the house together and so returning the space to its original configuration when the main bedroom would have run the width of the house.
That would also make room for a large en suite. The family bathroom will almost certainly need to a makeover too.
