With the remnants of smiling ghost and menacing pumpkin decorations flapping in the wind on a rainy Dublin day, you can sense the family-friendly atmosphere on the quiet street of Shandon Park. The children who live at number 7 have spent some great Halloweens trick-or-treating in the area, where most of the adults join in with dressing-up, says Conor, who owns the house with his wife, Laura.
The couple bought the home in 2016 – for €534,000, according to the Property Price Register – and undertook a big refurbishment in 2019. They hope to move to a larger house in the same area to accommodate their growing family.
Conor, who is originally from Sligo, says it’s important to him to be able to see as much of the sky as possible from his home, while living close to his job in the city centre. Luckily for him, this was made possible by Shandon Pitch-and-Putt Club being located behind the back garden, preventing properties on the street from being overlooked. The couple added a small lawn to the left of the south-facing garden for the children to run around, and the right side is populated with easy-to-maintain flower beds and a small glass house for planting, with a paved path in the centre. The family keep their bikes in the shed, from where they can access the back laneway which brings them out at the top of the road. “We cycle everywhere,” says Conor.
A 1920s redbrick extending to 100sq m (1,076sq ft), this three-bedroom home with an added 18sq m (194sq ft) attic conversion is accessed through a stained-glass door, from a small porch which was created when the exterior Kells door was added for extra insulation. The livingroom off the right of the hall, painted in the dusky Farrow & Ball shade Stiffkey Blue, feels cosy with an open fire nestled in an original fireplace and wooden shutters over the double-glazed sash window. There is also built-in shelving on either side of the chimney breast, with space for a TV.
The kitchen, at the end of the hall, has wooden fittings, open shelving and neutral Moroccan-style tiles underfoot. There is a wooden floor in the adjacent dining area, which boasts another fireplace and useful built-in storage, including a large pantry with sliding drawers. This space extends towards the back garden into a light-filled family room, which was once a 1970s-style sunroom. This is where the family spend a lot of their time, Conor says, and it doubles as a playroom for the children.
There is a family bathroom at the top of the stairs on the first floor; it has modern sanitary ware and the owners added a small bath for the children. A double bedroom sits to the back of the house; before the attic was converted it would have been the main bedroom but it is now used as a child’s room. Another double sits at the front of the house, which is used as a guest room mostly by Granny Mary, who makes weekly visits to see her grandchildren from Laura’s native Tyrone. A small single bedroom next to it is currently a nursery for the couple’s one-year-old; it would just about fit a small single bed but would likely be put to an alternative use, as Conor says some neighbours have done, as an office or walk-in wardrobe.
The attic conversion on the second floor, although not officially classed as a bedroom, is used as the main bedroom with an en suite. There is a bookshelf inset in the stairway, which is a lovely touch. The room overlooks the back garden and the pitch-and-putt green through a wide dormer window. They added floating bedside drawers and custom-built wardrobes to make the most of the under-eaves space. The en suite shower has a Velux window overhead, from where you can see across to the Dublin mountains on a good day, Conor assures me.
Insulation was a key concern during the home’s recent refurbishment, and it now has a C1 Ber. It is in a great location with a number of primary schools and sports clubs nearby. Mount Bernard Park is at the end of the street, which incorporates a playground and the entrance to the Cabra Luas stop. No 7 Shandon Park is on the market through Sherry FitzGerald, seeking €725,000.
