Charleston Road is the wide main road leading from the ‘Triangle’ in Ranelagh over to Belgrave Square on Dublin’s southside.
The period houses that line it are mixed in style, with many on one side built earlier and mostly detached, while the other side is dominated by a terrace of tall redbrick semi-detached houses, set well back.
Many of the houses on the road are in flats, as number 51 was when the current owners bought it 28 years ago. They brought the two-storey overgarden level house back to single family use. They are now downsizing and number 51 Charleston Road, which measures 2,719sq ft (253sq m), is for sale through Sherry FitzGerald for €1.975 million.
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These houses were built in a large plot – the front garden is 75ft long with parking for several cars while the rear is 130ft long and backs on to Oakley Road.
Ceiling cornices
The height of the house gives it an imposing feel – the granite entrance steps are twice as high as in many two-storey over-basement houses.
Inside it is two rooms deep with a return. At garden level that means a large familyroom to the front opening into an eat-in kitchen at the back.
At hall level there are two interconnecting reception rooms with the expected period details, such as impressive fireplaces, working shutters in the front bay window and decorative ceiling cornices. An attractive feature in the hall door is the original cast-iron panel and coloured glass.
Extension
Three of the larger bedrooms are on the first floor. Ten years ago the owners and their neighbours extended their returns. That gave number 51 a large room – listed by the agent as a fifth bedroom – and two large bathrooms, one of which is down at garden level.
There is also another small double bedroom at the top of the house. While new owners could move in and do nothing, it’s likely they will at least do simple things to update the interior or change it to suit their taste.
The internal doors for example were stripped back to the pine – a big fashion in the 1980s but not as common any more and the brick was exposed to create a feature wall in the family room at garden level. Instead of ripping out the solid wood kitchen, a few coats of brighter coloured paint would make it very up-to-date.
The back garden, though, needs nothing done to it – it was planted by a keen gardener and even on a dreary January day and without its water features running, it still looks great. There is also a large sandstone patio lined with plants. A side passageway gives additional outdoor storage.
