The downsizers are out in force with ever more large houses coming on the market in prime areas – at asking prices that would probably not have tempted the owners to sell up just two or three years ago. Number 25 St Kevin’s Park in Dartry, a five-bedroom Edwardian house with a massive rear garden, is for sale through Sherry FitzGerald for €2.75 million. When the current owners moved into the fine semi-detached property in the much sought-after Dublin 6 cul-de-sac, they did a considerable amount of updating, including adding a small extension to the rear. That was in 1993. Then, the house sold for £250,000, which gives an insight into property appreciation in some areas of Dublin in just over two decades.
St Kevin’s Park features houses in several styles. Number 25 is one of six similar semi-detached houses towards the end of the cul-de-sac on the side of the quiet road where the gardens are particularly wide and long, backing on to St Luke’s Hospital.
Decorative detailing
0 of 6
It is a substantial house over three floors, built for a family. The interconnecting reception rooms off the wide hall feature the house’s most notable Edwardian decorative detailing – the moulding on the ceilings. There are two deep bays here, one to the front, the other to the side, which make the rooms light and give them a great feeling of space. To the rear, small pantries were knocked together to create a good-sized dining room, and off this is the kitchen which is fitted with bespoke units made from reclaimed pine. Off this again is the utility room with a door to the garden.
Upstairs in this comfortable home there are five double bedrooms, four on the first floor – the largest with an en suite – and the fifth up in the attic, also with an en suite.
The 58m west-facing back garden is beautifully planted and maintained, and there is a large garden to the front with off-street parking for several cars. To the side is a garage built from reclaimed brick and a tiny courtyard – new owners will probably look to rework this area to change the layout of the kitchen and diningroom to open these rooms up more to the back garden.
