The redbrick houses opposite the Archbishop’s House on Lower Drumcondra Road are some of the finest in Dublin 9. The road banks up gently to residences and is lined by mature trees that are turning russet, their golden leaves gently falling at this time of the year.
The road is picturesque and now includes offroad cycle paths with the names of streets engraved into newly laid blocks as Gaeilge. Chichi cafes compete with local hero Andersons, and many of the houses on the road have been returned to single occupancy and are filled with families who love the fact that you can walk to school and into town from the area.
It’s a far cry from Drumcondra former title as the capital of flatland. Number 128 has been in the same family since 1988 when the current owner’s mother purchased it. At that time it was used for bedsits, but over time she returned it to a family home, replumbing and rewiring it and adding soundproofing to the single-glazed bay window in the interconnecting reception rooms. It worked, for the sound of the incredibly busy routes is discernibly dimmed.
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In an era when the flight to the suburbs was in full swing it was quite a bold move. She worked from home, using the back of the house as her clinic, with her patients accessing it via a side entrance on Hollybank Road.
The handsome redbrick now belongs to her daughter and she has upgraded the floors and walls, returning the timber boards to their natural colour and replastering the latter.
The result is a very smart family home with 174sq m (1,872sq ft) and a Ber of D1. The interconnecting reception rooms at hall level now house the kitchen-cum-diningroom ensuring both of these rooms get everyday use. Set in a U-shape the kitchen units are painted a soft grey and have polished black granite countertops. Fold-back doors lead through to the dining area where a mahogany table and balloon-back chairs look very much at home. Ceiling heights here exceed 3m.
Down a set of steps and past a guest toilet, the former clinic is now the livingroom, a more contemporary space with the glazing on its northern and western walls helping to wash it in light. It feels a million miles away from the front of the house. Outside there is off-street parking for up to two cars, a real boon in a home so near to the city. The current owners are part of a rising group of one-car families and use the rest of the space for their bikes.
There is a home office off the livingroom. This too is full of light and could also be used as a fifth bedroom.
The first of the property’s four double bedrooms is on the return and has an en suite bathroom. There are two more doubles on the first floor. The main is to the front where it enjoys bay windowed views of the trees and morning light. Originally a formal drawingroom, the ceiling heights here extend to 3.6m. The fourth double is on the first-floor return, with the family shower room beside it.
The front garden is notable. It is shielded from the footpath and cyclepath by walls and an electronic pedestrian gate. As well as being private it is beautifully planted in an easy-to-maintain fashion and is paved in sandstone flags. At weekends when the weather permits the family brings the dining table outside.
There is also an L-shaped back garden, accessed from the livingroom, that gets evening sun.
Number 128 Lower Drumcondra Road is for sale through Sherry FitzGerald with an asking price of €995,000.
