A Georgian villa-style house opposite the trendy shops and restaurants on The Crescent in Monkstown, Co Dublin, has had a complete makeover since it was sold at auction in 2005. Then, it was laid out in five bedsits and everything needed doing, says its owner. So they rewired, reroofed, replumbed and restored the elegant terraced house, a protected structure built in 1830, and added a smart modern extension designed by architect Simon McGuinness. It now has original details, like cornicing, sash windows and timber floors, along with smart modern bedrooms and bathrooms.
Number 3 The Crescent, Monkstown, Co Dublin, a double-fronted 225sq m (2,422sq ft) three-bed with a large back garden and a separate studio/home office, is for sale by private treaty through DNG for €1.8 million. As a protected structure, it is exempt from Ber assessment. It was sold at auction for €1.75 million in 2005, in the middle of the property boom.
Granite steps lead up to the front door, framed by columns with a fanlight over it. The livingroom on the left of the front hall has a large fireplace with a handsome carved timber mantel with elaborate stucco work bought in a Clifden antiques shop. A wide arch opens from here into a small study overlooking the back garden.
On the right of the front hall is a room fitted out as a study/home office, with bookshelves – but it could also be a bedroom, and has a large timber-floored en suite with a shower.
This is one of those upside-down Georgian houses, so steps from the front hall lead past a toilet/cloakroom to the basement level. Steps from a landing halfway down lead up a large glass-walled deck and there are more steps from here to the back garden.
The whole basement level is floored with pale Travertine stone tiles, and has underfloor heating and understairs access to the front garden. On one side of the hall there’s a large double bedroom with an en suite bathroom; on the other side is a diningroom, with built-in glass-fronted cupboards. A door from here leads into a modest-sized kitchen/breakfastroom, with a Travertine-topped breakfast bar and countertops on one side; on the other is a dining table next to a red leather banquette, custom-built to the owner’s design. There’s a decent-sized utility room off the kitchen.
A wide arch opens into a long but narrow sunroom, with a wall of glass doors opening to the garden. A large family room off it with space for dining has a raised timber-effect gas fireplace and folding floor-to-ceiling glass doors opening onto a side patio.
Steps from the other side of the sunroom lead up to the most unexpected part of the revamped house; a large main high-ceilinged bedroom suite at the side of the back garden. A dressingroom with two large, mirrored wardrobes opens into the bedroom. A heavy timber door opens into the large en suite bathroom, where a free-standing oval bath has a pebbled area in the tiled floor, designed to stop bathers slipping.
Three floor-to-ceiling windows look out to the garden from this extension: it looks like a converted stables from outside, although it’s a new building.
There are two sheds in the walled back garden, which is mainly in lawn, with mature trees and shrubs including a magnolia and fuchsia. A building at the bottom of the garden is used to store family equipment but could be converted to accommodation; it already has a toilet and kitchenette. There’s space to park at the bottom of the garden, although the owners don’t currently use it. A sliding timber door at the end opens to a wide lane shared by two neighbouring houses that leads to Pakenham Road at the rear.
There is residents’ onstreet parking outside on The Crescent. Number 3 is at the Dún Laoghaire end of Monkstown village, opposite Cinnamon restaurant and near Howbert & Mays garden shop.
