Healthfield Road is a quiet cul-de-sac off Terenure Road East, between Rathgar and Terenure villages.
Number 18 is a fine Stringer-built, five-bedroom redbrick that has a lovely natural flow to its layout, just the right amount of period features to feel unfussy and loads of natural light. The house measures 233sq m (2,510sq ft) and has an advised minimum value (AMV) of €1.2 million through agents Lisney.
The double-fronted property is an executor sale. The interior hasn’t been touched in decades and this is a good thing: the property didn’t get a makeover during the Celtic Tiger, so much of its original charm remains. The tiled front porch, with its leaded-glass panelled front door, opens into a parquet floored hall with smart architraves and cornicing. The ceiling are about three metres high.
To the left are the property’s statement rooms; interconnecting reception rooms with slide back doors. They have fine ceiling roses and cornices and matching mahogany Hicks- style mantelpieces. The drawingroom, to the front, is framed by a triptych of glazing. From the diningroom, the rear double doors open out to an old-fashioned lawned garden.
A square family room, with an amber tiled fire inset, is to the right of the hall and has a small room off it that the agent is calling the china pantry. It has a small Belfast sink and looks like it doubled as the family’s drinks cellar.
A short set of stairs takes you down to the kitchen, to the rear of the house and a room that has been frozen in time. There are some 1970s and 1980s additions but the original bells for the house still hang over the door.
There is a blue-grey Aga that the next owner should keep but the space needs reconfiguring. The eat-in area is hidden behind the Aga and the rest of the kitchen is housed in a single storey extension that doesn’t really add anything to the layout. It would be much better to extend the kitchen across the width of the house to create a large room that also enjoys great garden views.
A gorgeous set of stairs leads to the hall return where the first of the property’s five bedrooms is. The room has a cast-iron fireplace and the wallpaper appears to have suffered water damage.
On the first floor there are three large double bedrooms, two overlook the front of the house. The bathroom and toilet are separate. On the first floor return is the fifth bedroom, a space with expansive garden views that could be a study or a room for an au pair.
The west-facing back garden is over 45m (148ft) long by 16m (53ft) wide.
While a new roof was added about 10 years ago, the house needs new windows, possible insulation, rewiring and a new kitchen extension. Lisney's Ciaran Cassidy estimates these works would cost about €150,000.
The auction takes place on October 9th at 2.30pm at Lisney’s Stephen’s Green premises.
