Properties for sale in the €2million plus price bracket are not exactly flying off the shelves at the moment. It can be rare to find one that ticks all the boxes with a (relatively) competitive asking price.
Number 12 Garville Avenue is a fine four-bed Victorian whose owners have done all the tough, expensive and dirty work leaving the next owner with only the pleasurable task of superficial decoration.
They dug down to give the rooms at garden level decent ceiling heights of 2.7metres and installed a Clive Christian-style kitchen with iroko timber worktops to the front of the house where it gets the morning light. There is also a six-door Aga and a gas hob that will please keen chefs.
The major renovations were done 17 years ago, as the economy was beginning to heat up but it includes everything buyers within this price bracket are looking for from underfloor heating throughout, a separate den for the kids, a sizeable utility as well as separate storage in the outer hall and the makings of a wine cellar.
Heat, water, light and sound are zoned and can be controlled remotely. Now the 284sq m/ 3057sq ft property is seeking €2.4million through agent Lisney.
The dining area, a dark space, is cleverly lit from above by a discreet skylight and gable end windows, and can be screened off by closing pocket sliding doors.
To the back is a very roomy square-shaped living room with a fireplace and a contemporary bowed glass window bookended by doors leading out to the garden. This space is very smartly considered.
At hall level a big swaggy curtain hangs from its Victorian arch, a traditional but beautifully executed décor idea. Big swishy bowed drapes also hang from the windows of the interconnecting reception rooms, decorated last year by Helen Turkington in soft grey tones .
The first of the property’s four bedrooms (with en suite) is situated to the rear of this floor – a good option for elderly guests.
On the first floor there are three bedrooms – two doubles and a single – but no en suite. Instead there’s a large checkerboard floored bathroom on the hall return.
Outside there’s a further surprise in an outdoor kitchen where there is a breakfast bar and a Beefeater barbecue supplied by The Outdoor Scene. The cooking area is covered over while across the way a wall-mounted gas fire burns at the flick of a switch. Outdoor speakers add to the party vibe. The owners use it year round and even held Christmas Day celebrations here, albeit with guests wrapped in festive jumpers and scarves.
At the end of the lawn there’s a resin-floored playground area to the rear. Behind this there is a further site of about 243 sq m/2615sq ft with vehicular rear access from Garville Lane. Planning permission – now lapsed – was granted here for two houses in the early 2000s. Number 12 is just one of two remaining properties on this side of the street, where the large gardens are north-facing, whose garden hasn’t been developed in some way.
Developing the site is certainly one way to go. Agent Felicity Fox is currently selling 67 Garville Lane, a site of about 184 sq m with the potential for a three-bed, two bath property, subject to planning, seeking €500,000. Meanwhile SherryFitzGerald is seeking €550,000 for number 63a, an 82 sq m, two-storey, three-bed semi-detached house.
With scope to add further features to the existing house or to develop the rear site this property has plenty of options, subject to deep pockets.
