1n 1962, Merton Road in Rathmines “wasn’t really on the map; it was just very quiet”, says one of the family selling number 12. Nearly 60 years after they moved in, almost all of the houses on the road have changed hands but his observation stands; the road, which connects Cowper Road and Richmond Avenue South, sees very little passing traffic and so it is a lovely leafy ramble along towards Palmerston Park.
For all that peace, it’s very close to shops at Upper Rathmines and at Dunville Avenue, and to lots of schools and sports clubs, as well as the hubs of Ranelagh, Rathmines and Milltown.
Located on the left as you walk the few minutes from Cowper Luas stop, the house presents a very appealing frontage, with wisteria framing the curved porch door and bay windows at ground and first floor. There is a garage to the left, with a bedroom overhead.
The original front door opens into a generous hall, with plain coving and a picture rail. These features are replicated in the two fine reception rooms off this; both have mahogany fireplaces with tiled surrounds, and pocket doors slide to divide them. The front room has the bay window, and a glass door with stained-glass pattern opens from the rear reception room to the back garden. Off this room, formerly a dining room, is a pantry for storing tableware; there was originally a hatch from here to the kitchen. The total floor area is 271sq m (2,336sq ft).
Past the stairs, and past a downstairs toilet with a window to the side passage, the hall opens into a wide, bright kitchen, off which a dining room was built about 30 years ago, in place of old outhouses. This part of the house fills with morning sun, which you can appreciate indoors or on the patio beside the house. In addition to upgrading this area, and probably extending across the back, new owners are likely to follow the neighbours in incorporating the garage into the footprint of the ground floor, all subject to planning permission; it would be possible to do this while maintaining the side passage for bringing in bikes and bins.
At the top of the stairs, the first bedroom is off a small half-landing lit by a tall window; these are original to the house, which was built in 1929 and has a Ber of D2. Off the main landing, three steps up, there are two very large bedrooms and two smaller doubles. The toilet, hot press and shower room are all to the left at the top of the stairs, with the bathroom’s long sash window overlooking the back garden.
The owners were very keen gardeners, taking advantage of the 115ft length and the easterly aspect to enlarge the flowerbed along the south-facing wall, and to add a little greenhouse for growing tomatoes. Apple trees also thrive beside the rockery at the far end, where shrubs conceal the Luas railing.
The most recent sale on the road recorded in the Property Price Register is that of number 6, a few doors up; with kitchen extension, and converted attic and garage, it sold through Sherry FitzGerald for €2.1 million two years ago. The same agent is seeking €2.3 million for number 11, which has also been extended.
Number 12 is on the market through DNG, with an asking price of €1.8 million.
