Even in 2011 and 2012, when the Dublin market for high-end houses had shrunk almost to the point of non-existence, houses on Temple Villas in Rathmines were moving for big prices. Temple Villas is an extension of Palmerston Road at the Palmerston Park end and it is lined with mostly semi-detached substantial redbricks. They are popular for several reasons. The leafy prestigious location is one but another is the style of houses. While the other end of Palmerston Road is made up of two-storey-over-basement houses, these were built later and don’t have basements. They weren’t carved up into flats as many of the Palmerston Road houses were and they are double-fronted with family-friendly layouts.
Two Temple Villas houses sold last year for €2.019m and €2.7m and five houses sold on the road in 2011 and 2012 for prices that ranged between €2.1 million and €3.45 million. The highest price, that €3.45m, was quite out of kilter with the prices being paid at that time. It was paid in August 2012 for this house, 16 Temple Villas, when it changed hands quietly with Sherry FitzGerald as the agent. Now, not two years later, the same house, with 395sq m (4,250sq ft), is back on the market, this time publicly, with Sherry FitzGerald once again the agent and a price tag of €3.95 million.
It is a fine family home with seven bedrooms, three reception rooms, and a large eat-in kitchen. Two reception rooms interconnect and they have their original French windows out to the back garden. The house is semi-detached with two stories to the front and three to the back with a side pedestrian entrance. It was in walk-in condition when the current owners bought but in the short time they have been there they have carried out significant decorative work inside and bought professional landscapers in to redesign both the back and front gardens.
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In 2007, the previous owners added to the house by extending at the rear, building a single story extension to the kitchen making it a lovely bright room with space for a large dining table and a couple of sofas as well as a smart fitted kitchen with a stone-topped island and a four-door Aga. They also, cleverly, went down under the house to create a utility room, a bathroom and an extra bedroom.
The current owners updated the bathrooms and en suites, re-sanded and stained most of the original floorboards, commissioned bespoke furniture for the living rooms and painted throughout; the reception rooms, hall and kitchen – even the units – are painted grey. The uniform use of that colour – even the furniture is upholstered in grey – is the only thing new owners may want to change as it’s a little corporate looking for a family home.
The back garden, which is not overlooked, is very child-friendly with space for play – there’s a a trampoline area and a tree house – but also a paved patio area and a contemporary water feature, wide flowerbeds and a lawn. There is off-street parking for several cars to the front behind newly installed electric gates.
