This semi-detached house in Sandymount last sold 20 years ago when it was bought by a family downsizing from a much larger property. They brought books, pictures and some nice old furniture with them and created a warm and welcoming home. Now the three-bedroom house with 150sq m (1,615sq ft) and its very long and clearly lovingly tended rear garden is for sale as they prepare to downsize one more time.
Built in 1927, at the time this strip of houses represented thoroughly modern homes surrounded as they were by much larger Victorian houses – although the inclusion of a garage to the side would indicate that it was clearly even then aimed at a well-heeled buyer.
While the semi-detached house changed hands relatively recently and the owners updated and added an attractive modern extension at the back, they were careful to keep the house’s charm and, upstairs, its original layout. There are three bedrooms, two doubles and a single, as well as a separate wc and bathroom with its original cast-iron bath. New owners may consider extending upwards, which will involve changing the layout to install a staircase.
The bow window in the front reception room has a curved window seat and this room opens via sliding doors into a rear reception room which, in turn, opens into the mostly glazed modern extension running the width of the rear.
Here two sets of tall teak glazed doors open out to the garden while light floods in from the glazed sections of the roof. There is also access to this room – used as a dining and living space – through the original breakfastroom which is now a small kitchen. It is fitted with a Rayburn range with a Sheila maid overhead (a ceiling-mounted slatted timber clothes drier on a pulley) which gives a cosy, old-fashioned atmosphere, as do the two walk-in pantries. There is also a downstairs wc in the roomy bright hall to the left of the front door.
At this price range – 50 Sandymount Avenue is for sale for €1.2 million through Sherry FitzGerald – buyers rarely move in and do nothing unless the house has been very recently renovated. It is likely that new owners, as well as decorating throughout and updating the bathroom, might consider extending to the side and to the rear because the very long garden won’t miss a few metres.
There is off-street parking to the front for three cars and it is just a few minutes’ walk to the Dart station.
