43 Nutley Road, Donnybrook, Dublin 4
The location of this property - not just on this prime Donnybrook road but at the Ailesbury Road end - is one that tends to attract buyers looking for large family homes and with deep enough pockets to embark on a major makeover once the ink is dry on the sale contract.
Since the Property Price Register began in 2010, 23 homes have sold for over €1 million between Nutley Road, Nutley Lane and Nutley Avenue, and many have undergone substantial post-sale refurbishment.
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So serious viewers of 43 Nutley Road in Donnybrook will bring their architect or builder along for a look long before they consider making an offer.
That’s not to say that someone couldn’t buy the fine detached house and move in: with three bedrooms, a homely and comfortable feel, and signs throughout (but particularly in the relatively recent kitchen) that this is a house that has been cared for and updated, it’s a lovely family home.
But prospective buyers need only look across the road for a dramatic (though not typical) example of what happens when property changes hands on this road.
On the garden site of number 46 (which sold for €1.6 million in early 2013) is a very large, strikingly modern house, designed by de Blacam and Meagher Architects.
Sherry FitzGerald is selling 43 Nutley Road for an asking price of €1.2 million.
Number 43 is detached on a corner site and, as it stands, has 144 sq m (1,550 sq ft) of space.
It has three bedrooms - originally there would have been four, but the box room was hived off to make an en suite bathroom for the main bedroom.
Downstairs there’s a livingroom to the front with what presumably are decorative timber ceiling beams that suit the diamond-patterned original picture window.
To the left off the hall is the small diningroom and this opens out on to the rear garden.
The kitchen has Shaker-style units and an Aga, with a breakfastroom on the end that overlooks the garden.
A garage is to the front, which, again, offers more scope when it comes to renovation.
Really, though, it’s more than likely that all this will change as the house is updated and greatly extended by new owners.
Number 43 is on a slightly unusual and elevated corner site. This is most obvious when looking at the rear garden, which is terraced and beautifully planted and designed with attractive patio areas.
The way that Nutley Avenue joins Nutley Road means that this house on the corner has a triangular-shaped rear garden, and unusually, the front garden is wider than the rear.
10 Rathdown Park, Terenure, Dublin 6W
Number 10 Rathdown Park is an executor sale, and retains many of its original features and layout.
Its roomy interconnecting reception rooms span the depth of the property.
The bay-windowed livingroom to the front faces west, and glass doors lead through to the diningroom and on to French doors that would once have opened directly into the garden, and now lead through to a wood-panelled sunroom.
There is a decent familyroom on the other side of the hall.
The original breakfastroom has been extended but remains dark by modern standards.
It too has double doors leading out to the sunroom, and a chimneybreast that currently houses a gas fire but would be perfect for a more energy-efficient solid-fuel stove.
At some point the kitchen was moved out to what would have been a side passage linking the garage at the front to the rear.
Galley-like and lit only from above by large roof lights, it feels isolated.
The 268sq m (2,890sq ft) house doesn’t necessarily need extending, but this layout does need reconfiguring.
Some neighbours have broken through to their diningroom to create one very large open-plan space.
Another option is to turn the kitchen into a utility-cum-bike shed and bring all prep and cooking elements back into the breakfast room.
By incorporating the sunroom it would improve the connection with the garden which, at 100ft long, is impressive.
At present its cypress hedging dominates the private space but this could easily be pruned back. The garden faces east but gets evening sunshine.
Sun-filled en suite Built to accommodate large families, these houses originally had five bedrooms.
The accommodation at number 10 has been reduced to three doubles and one good-sized single.
The fifth bedroom, a single, has become a spacious and sun-filled en suite bathroom off the large master.
The property would benefit from an insulation upgrade as it still has its original metal frame windows and an F Ber rating.
Number 10 is asking €1.25 million through agents SherryFitzGerald.
Across the street number 16, a similarly laid-out semi with five rather than four bedrooms and an E2 Ber rating, is asking €1.2 million through agents DNG.
The pricing seems to be in the ballpark for this popular suburban enclave. In November 2014, number 34 came to market asking €1.3 million and sold for €1.35 million.
