Sandycove has always been one of Dublin’s more desirable addresses but Covid-19 restrictions have put its attractions into clear focus. Even under the latest Level 5 restrictions the village continues to hum with activity outside some of its most popular shops and cafes, Cavistons and 64 Wine, for example, on the day this writer visited.
Neighbours and friends gather in socially distanced groups of two or three to enjoy outdoor coffee, a catch-up and soak up the vitamin D. Then of course there’s the nearby Forty Foot swimming spot where all ages visit year round for a bracing swim and a brief neighbourly chat. Locals can be seen walking to and from the swimming hole in their togs, some sporting dressing gowns, hipsters preferring a dryrobe, and others defying the weather in shorts and flip flops.
At number 45 Sandycove Road in normal times a further host of restaurants, cafes and independent shops are to be found on the doorstep. Built in the 1860s the four-bedroom terraced house has been extended and gently modernised while retaining much of its original period charm.
The railed front garden has a slate path and faces south so you’ll get great sun here.
The house opens into a hall with interconnecting reception rooms to the right. These have stripped, six-panel timber doors and window surrounds, as well as working shutters on the windows front and back. There is a cast-iron fireplace in the front room, which gets lovely light and a very fine marble surround in the back room, which overlooks the garden. Ceiling heights differ slightly from 2.7m in the front to 3m in the back. All of the rooms have smart, simple coving and ceiling roses.
The double-fronted property has been virtually staged for sale which means in reality that the house is empty, except for its period features, which include honey-coloured floorboards through most of the ground floor.
Already extended when the current owners bought it in 2015, paying €1.15million for it, according to the property price register, the other side of the hall is home to a sitting room with similar honey timber flooring, window and door treatments that steps up a level to the pale grey, painted kitchen.
Its units line one wall where there is a double Belfast sink and deep under-counter drawers with a decent-sized island centring the entire dual-aspect space. More light feeds down from the bank of rooflights in the vaulted roof above.
From here there is access, via a set of steps down into the garden, a smartly landscaped space that, while north-facing, gets some southern light and is well planted for privacy. It is over 11m long and 9.5m wide.
The rest of the house is laid out over two levels. Upstairs there are three double bedrooms. The main is to the front and has an en suite bathroom with a window. There is a glimpse of the sea from the back bedroom.
A set of stairs lead down to garden level where there is another en suite bedroom with direct access to the garden and a room that could be a playroom or a den for children. Here you can see where the digging down was done when the property was renovated; doors are set above floor level and you step down into these spaces. This and further stepped levels at hall level will lessen its appeal to later-stage down traders.
Parking is on street, on a busy thoroughfare, but the property’s location does question the need for a car anyway. Located nearby is the Dart at Glasthule and Glenageary, on hand to transport children to and from schools and all amenities you could require.
The C2 Ber-rated property measures 203sq m /2,185sq m and is seeking €1.25million through agent SherryFitzGerald.
