There is a fine view of Thomas Drew's Rathmines' Town Hall Clock from the granite steps to the door of 5 Gulistan Terrace. Step through the door and the hallway view – along a bright, high-ceilinged hall, under an arch and on to a dazzling cathedral window with coloured glass insets overlooking the green of the rear garden and trees – is just as impressive in another way.
The hallway is notable too for its tiled floor, elaborate plasterwork and centre,
oblong-shaped, ceiling rose. The light and sense of space here sets the tone for the rest of the house.
The owners’ main base is abroad and that is the reason they are selling. They opted for two bedrooms and to install a kitchen in what would originally have been a second reception/dining room. A new owner not wishing to continue this arrangement could avail of existing full planning permission to extend to the rear. With a design by award-winning architects PAC Studio, the permission allows for a 48sq m (516sq ft) rear extension with kitchen at garden level and third bedroom.
For sale through Colliers, with an asking price of €850,000, number 5 has a floor area of 114sq m (1,225sq ft) with rear pedestrian access, via a south-facing garden, to Mount Pleasant Avenue. Number 5’s next-door neighbour recently sold for €1 million. At 150sq m (1445sq ft), it is a bigger house and different in design and layout. Its sale however is an indication of the ongoing popularity of Gulistan Terrace and the road’s varied, solidly period houses.
The vendors upgraded and worked on number 5 bit by bit, retaining and repairing original features. Window shutters are in working order, cornicing, plasterwork and ceiling roses restored, and the floorboards are polished and made new. The folding doors between sittingroom and kitchen/breakfast room are original and ceilings 11ft-high. The walls here are stone-coloured, sash windows long and in the sitting room, the period fireplace is of white marble with a slate hearth. The kitchen/breakfast room is charming, helped by a wide window seat, large sash window, inset Aga and polished timber floor. Fittings are extensive and the dining table easily seats eight.
The bedrooms are on the ground floor, the main one with a tiled shower room en suite as well as a nice cast-iron fireplace which could be opened up for use. Both bedrooms have banks of fitted wardrobes. A rear patio/garden has tall trees at its end, paved and lawned spaces and garden shed. There is a railed, gravelled and planted garden to the front.
