It took two years to renovate the property at 18 Garville Road, such was the level of detail that went into the design by its current owners.
“Before we had our own [two children, now aged three and one] this house was really our baby. We put so much time and effort into it, and we’d a fair idea what we wanted when we engaged the architects,” say the owners, who are moving to Kinsale to be closer to family now that theirs has grown in size.
The extension to the rear by Horan Rainsford Architects is really something. Between the new kitchen and the original part of the Victorian house (the two reception rooms are to the front) sits an area where a large tract of glazing in the ceiling and sliding doors open to the original garden wall.
“We decided it would be a shame to cover it up with a wall,” says the owner, adding, “We had a really great French stonemason [Michel Renaudin] who also created new bespoke walls like a maze in the back garden”.
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It really is a lovely feature and works well in providing both interest and contrast to the all-white interiors.
A double-height kitchen by Kube has a large island made of a single stone slab housing the sink. This is opposite a full wall of presses, where the appliances also reside. The eye is automatically drawn to a wall of concertina doors that open up the entire space to the rear garden, while a utility and cloakroom are cleverly hidden behind a wall of architectural cladding.
More details such as panelling on the walls, a custom-designed staircase and exposed stone walls in the bedrooms – now given a fresh whitewash – are just some of the features that enhance this lovely four-bedroom house. The Ber of B3 gives an indication of the level of work undertaken to bring this old Victorian house into 21st-century living.
If four bedrooms, three reception rooms and the large eat-in kitchen are not enough, despite occupying 218sq m (2,346sq t) of floor space, there is a rather nice surprise lurking in the rear garden.
Hidden from the house itself, as it lies behind “a maze of stone walls”, is a 25sq m (269sq ft) architecturally designed studio. With low-maintenance exterior cladding and oversized triple-glazed windows, the owner says they wanted to reflect the quality of the main house when designing what selling agent DNG is calling “the nest”.
“When we first saw the house it was the garden that caught our eye as the house was the last on the street to be renovated and needed so much work. But when we looked it up on Google Earth we could see that it has the largest rear garden on this side of the road.”
The nest, which has a proper foundation, is A3 rated and has vehicular and pedestrian access to the rear. It could serve a multitude of uses, such as a rather luxurious home office, a gym, a teenagers’ den or indeed as a den to escape the teenagers.
This most impressive property has been launched on the market through DNG seeking €1.85 million.
