Number one Dartmouth Place is an end-of-terrace period redbrick that extends to just 64sq m (689sq ft) on a narrow street linking Dartmouth Road with Northbrook Road. Eoin Whelan, his fiance Diarmuid Scully and their son live here comfortably with plenty of space for the family to move around. The house, conveniently located close to the shops, restaurants and amenities of Ranelagh, has also been the venue for many a dinner party, with guests inevitably ending the night by dancing, aided by the built-in Sonos sound system.
I’m greeted at the dark-grey front door by Whelan and the couple’s six-month-old son. It won’t be long before the little one will be running around so Whelan and Scully have decided to look for a larger home with a big back garden and a guest bedroom for visiting parents, preferably in Ranelagh, an area they’ve come to know and love since settling here.
“It’s a great neighbourhood,” says Whelan. “We bought it for the location and the lifestyle. There’s a great coffee shop we go to, called One Kinda Folk. It’s just a five-minute walk to the tennis club. The neighbours are lovely [...] We’re going to miss it.”
When the couple bought number 1 it didn’t look very promising; in fact, says Whelan, it was “squalid”. The rooms were poky and it needed upgrading. Rather than being put off the pair set about refurbishing and extending the property, with guidance from architect Stephen Mulhall of NineteenEighty, using clever architectural touches to maximise the feeling of space. Out came interior walls and in went a kitchen extension running all the way out to the back boundary, and lots of rooflights to make everything feel bright and open. They also fully insulated the house, bringing it up to a B3 Ber.
As you enter you can see down to the back of the house thanks to the open-plan design. Facing the front door is a tall cloakroom, and the whole downstairs is laid with laminate flooring. The livingroom to the front has a feature log-effect fire built in, with lots of clever, concealed storage. The window has plantation shutters, and there’s recessed lighting throughout.
The line of bespoke storage units leads to a dining table with recessed bench seating and on to the kitchen with its extensive wall and base units, quartz worktops, mirrored splashback, stainless steel sink, hob, oven and extractor fan. The fridge-freezer, dishwasher and washer-dryer are neatly tucked in here too.
“The architect designed it so that your eye follows a line from the livingroom to the kitchen, to give it more depth,” Whelan says.
Under the stairs is the guest WC and shower, which has a feature handcrafted sink made of stone, which the couple, who like to travel, sourced in South Africa. The kitchen has floor-to-ceiling windows and a sliding door leading out to a small, private, walled patio garden. The patio has external lighting and the sound system runs out to here too.
You can see the Luas passing by from the back of the house but once the triple-glazed doors are closed you can’t hear it. Another window lights your way up the stairs, where there are two bedrooms. The en suite main bedroom to the front has timber floors and vaulted ceilings with skylights to really maximise the space, plus fitted wardrobes and an original cast-iron fireplace which is currently not in use. The en suite, tucked behind a rolling barn door, has an overhead rain shower.
The second bedroom to the back can be used as a home office but is currently a nursery. There are fitted wardrobes and access to the attic via a pull-down Stira ladder.
Whelan and Scully are hoping to find another fixer-upper in Ranelagh, and reckon this house will be perfect for young professionals keen to live in this buzzing, vibrant area, or a young family like themselves.
Number 1 Dartmouth Terrace is now on the market through Sherry FitzGerald, seeking €595,000.
