There's lots of activity on Orwell Park, in Rathgar, Dublin 6. In terms of house sales, about 12 have changed hands in the past three years and there always seem to be builders' vans outside a few of them. It's easy to see the appeal of these grand homes, convenient for shops, schools and the city.
Near the village end of the road, number 63 – a double-fronted, detached redbrick built in 1885 – has been in the same ownership for more than three decades and is now for sale through Eoin O’Neill Property Advisers with an asking price of €4.25 million.
It is set back from the road on a gravelled expanse large enough for five cars, with a curving lawn edged by a few tall trees.
The late Victorian detailing begins at the generous porch, with intricate brickwork overhead and terrazzo underfoot; the front door is surrounded by stained glass panels and decorated with two cast-iron insets. These, surprisingly, are backed by glass that can be opened from the inside to allow a draught through the hall. This is tall and wide, with an arch drawing the eye up to the fine plasterwork, whose tips are picked out in gold, and down to the botanical wainscoting that goes from the garden level to the top floor.
For such a large house – it covers 341sq m (3,668sq ft) on a plot of 0.4 acres – it feels warm and inviting. There are three reception rooms, five bedrooms and six bathrooms. There are 13 windows at the front, and eight windows at the back of the main house. The ceilings in the main rooms top 11ft and the skirtings are a foot tall.
A second arch frames the way to the study and the first downstairs bathroom on the right, and past this is the loveliest livingroom, with an unusual arched fireplace that’s decorated with vines, and with a bay window looking southwards across the garden, the Dodder valley and the suburban countryside to the mountains.
All the windows have been restored by Ventrolla and the shutters are working, but some work will be needed to upgrade the Ber rating from G.
Across the hall, the diningroom has a wide bay, a tall marble fireplace and a very deep cornice, emphasising the height of the room and the finery of the two ceiling roses. A section of the wall opens to reveal steps to the kitchen, down through the original butler’s pantry.
The kitchen, which can also be accessed down a few steps from the hall, past a full-height window and another guest toilet, is fuelled by an Aga and the units are painted off-white. French windows open to the patio, and a door opens past a reading nook into the covered side passage. This has been cleverly configured, with doors to the front garden, the garage and the utility/store room.
Farther along is a garden room used for entertaining that could also be suitable for an older relative or a student.
Outside this is another of the house’s surprises: a covered seating area with a vine creeping along the beams. The sunny garden – big enough to require six outside taps – is carefully tended, with beds and borders of pinks and purples, and specimen trees lending interest and shade for the benches dotted around.
Inside, the stairs are notable for the cast-iron balustrades and decorative newels, and are well lit by another south-facing window.
A bedroom on the first landing, facing the garden, has a sweet painted fireplace and an internal ensuite. Off the main landing are the family bathroom and two big front bedrooms, one of them ensuite; the largest, at the back, is also ensuite and has a deep bay window. The fifth bedroom is up again, off a curved landing; it feels like a secret space, another singular feature of this special house.
