It’s within sight of a late-opening pharmacy and a prime coffee shop with a jar of dog treats, and within easy buggy-range of the quirky shops in Harold’s Cross, but Effra Road occupies a quiet pocket of Dublin 6 that belies its convenience. It’s a continuation, towards Rathmines, of Leinster Road West, from where that road loops around in an L to Harold’s Cross Road. It is lined with redbricks of differing style, some of them in the same families for decades and some being sold and thoroughly reworked, and also home to some recent developments.
One of these, Le Bas Mews, comprises four houses to the rear of Le Bas Terrace, a short row of Victorian houses on Leinster Road West. Access is through electric gates leading to the gable end of the sandy-brick two-storey terraced homes with integrated car ports; a smart solution to the narrow site which is bounded by an old stone wall.
The 104sq m (1,119sq ft) houses, designed by OMS Architects and developed by Golden Horde in 2015, were priced at €595,000 when new. No 3, which has been in the current owners’ family since then, is now on the market through DNG with an asking price of €825,000. The annual management fee is €750.
Inside, additional clever ideas are on show, and some are concealed. The stairs rise and turn to the right of the hall, where handle-less cupboards hide the laundry area, adjacent to a decent-sized guest toilet. Straight ahead is the well-fitted, open-plan kitchen/living/dining room, with pale glossy units and solid wood countertops. It’s a wide space heated by gas and lit by a large square bay window at the dining end, as well as French doors to the sunny southwest-facing garden. This is partly in patio, with the grass fenced off, and the owners, Peter and Ruth, say it is a glorious sun trap. Birch trees in the adjoining garden lend shade and privacy, and the birds sing louder than any traffic.
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Oak floors throughout the house are continued on the treads of the stairs, and reflected in the square-cut banisters as well as the screen on the long window facing the stairs. Additional light comes from a Velux over the stairwell and another in the family bathroom, which has a shower over the bath. All the walls are painted a silvery grey and the shade on the woodwork highlights the chunky detail on the architraves. The smart, triple-glazed alu-clad windows contribute to the B3 BER.
Upstairs, off a central landing, are three bedrooms of which even the smallest, one of two at the front, could take a double bed. Wardrobes are capacious but unobtrusive, and a square panel over the bed in the main room, with a recess and shelves either side, adds interest. This also has a generous en suite shower room.
The photographs convey a spare aesthetic but in reality there is a warm patina of family life, with Peter and Ruth saying they are moving — not very far — only because they need more space. They are fond of their neighbours and sad to leave “this great location”, being good customers of the local businesses and soon joining one of the many well-regarded schools in the area.
