A charming Victorian double-fronted villa on Lower Albert Road in Sandycove, with plenty of its original features intact, offers an intriguing wealth of possibilities. Number 45 is divided into two apartments but could be easily be converted back to a large family home, subject to planning permission.
Any notions of dreary flats must be left at the front door, which opens into a long tiled hallway with an impressive reception room on either side. This home, which is Ber-exempt, was remodelled and revamped when bought in the 1980s and it has been treated with love and care since then.
Period details are present and correct: marble fireplaces with cast-iron insets and brass hoods, original window shutters, coving and ceiling roses are all in excellent condition. The livingroom and diningroom are flooded with light all day.
There’s flexibility here to adapt with a light hand, preserving the charm and layout of the house, keeping the present arrangements of an excellent home above with an immaculate flat below or to go all out on a renovation that will tie the two halves of this property together and create a seamless, substantial family home with four bedrooms, one or even two studies, a teenage den or a games room, and a kitchen on either the first floor or level.
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Two large bedrooms lie beyond the reception rooms and at the end of the hall there’s a utility and bathroom that give way to a fine kitchen with a balcony that overlooks the garden sweeping down to old stables. This is a vista full of charm, and the kitchen is lit by windows on three sides. Steps from the balcony lead to the garden.
Downstairs is the second apartment, with access from the front of the house. It has a bedroom to the left and a sittingroom with cast-iron fireplace to the right. Two further bedrooms are behind and one looks on to an enclosed courtyard — this would make a delightful study. There’s a bathroom with a shower, and a large kitchen that also opens on to the courtyard.
Also on this level, but with its own access through the garden, is another large room, with hall and its own bathroom and shower, offering potential as a standalone office, au pair or guest accommodation.
The beautiful, mature garden has all the hallmarks of expert care lavished on it for many decades. Damson, pear and apple trees, a rhubarb patch and gooseberry bushes, as well as an allotment-style vegetable bed, flourish in the southwesterly aspect. Old stables at the end of the 150ft garden could be converted into a garden room for further enjoyment of this serene, private space.
Good schools are plentiful, with a Montessori only two doors down; the Glenageary Dart stop is a three-minute walk away; the Metals, the cycle/footpath that leads from Dalkey Quarry to Dún Laoghaire pier is at the top of Albert Road and the Forty Foot is a quick 10-minute walk in the other direction. There is no off-street parking at the house, and the original garden and cast-iron railings are still in situ, but on-street parking is available.
Number 45 Lower Albert Road is for sale through Sherry FitzGerald with an asking price of €1.35 million.
