The appeal of Rathfarnham’s further reaches are its winding secret roads that can often give the impression of being in the middle of the country rather than in parts of a capital city.
It has attracted all manner of low-key well-to-dos, including U2’s Adam Clayton, who enjoy large homes on extensive grounds. Some of these are visible from Whitechurch Road, where number 237 Whitechurch Cottages is located. It is a different sort of home – one of a collection of low-slung, cut-stone cottages, built for workers at nearby Marlay Park.
Accessed via a shared driveway to which the house to the rear has a right of way, the original cottage has been completely reconfigured and more than doubled in size. On entry, the original cut-stone walls are visible in part of the entrance hall, floored in square terracotta tiles, and also bordering the corridor down to the accommodation.
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The living room and kitchen are located in extensions added by a previous owner and lead off the smartly tiled hall. The living room, standing to the left, is set around a large country-style chimney breast housing a solid fuel stove. The chimney breast has been painted an after dark shade of deep mauve.
All the rooms have good ceiling heights in keeping with the original property.
Doors lead off into a sunroom to the rear, a good-size space that was upgraded from an existing conservatory, and through to the kitchen, where timber units are painted a soothing shade of sage green. Coloured glass splashbacks, a fashion that has really stood the test of time here, add additional impact. The large window over the sink is framed with hand-painted ceramic tiles to create a feature, a simple idea that has been well executed.
Steps from the entrance hall lead down a corridor lit from above by a roof light where two of the property’s four bedrooms are situated, one single and one double.
A door to the right opens into a square room with a vaulted ceiling warmed by a gas-fuelled stove and where the property’s original front entrance has been turned into a feature window. This is the original part of the cottage and off it are two bedrooms and a shower room. This would make a great kids’ room or den and in effect give them their own wing within the house.
Measuring 162sq m (1,776sq ft) number 237 is seeking €645,000 through agent SherryFitzGerald.
The property has a decent-sized southerly garden to the rear and Grange Golf Club is just a short drive away.
