When the owners of 135 Strand Road in Sandymount bought their house in 2006, they lived in it for a couple of years before commencing extensive renovations while respecting the period feel and keeping the tone of the house intact. They did this while adding an extension at ground level and flipping the layout of the rooms in the return.
The renovations were staged with the heavy lifting of rewiring, replumbing and reinsulating happening first. The house, though built in 1873, is not listed or protected, and they took the walls right out and insulated them, resulting in its B1 Ber rating. An old extension on the ground level was knocked and a new one replaced it, incorporating an office and a big kitchen/family room, expanding the area of the house to 243sq m (2,615sq ft).
The house faces over Sandymount Strand, just beside the Martello tower. Three lighthouses are visible from the window, and the views over Dublin Bay take in the Baily lighthouse at Howth Head, Poolbeg and the winking light of Dún Laoghaire pier.
The front garden is gravelled, with electric gates and parking for two cars. Steps lead down to an entrance on the ground floor and there is a bike shed at this level. The front door is screened by an ornate porch; the door is topped by an exquisite stained-glass fanlight. As well as original floors, the hallway has cornicing, a ceiling rose and elaborate wallpaper.
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To the left of the hall are interconnecting reception rooms with double-glazed sash windows filled with sea and sky. Marble hearths hold open, working fireplaces with marble insets and the floors in both the drawingroom and the diningroom are carpeted. The window in the diningroom overlooks the garden and a sedum roof on the new extension.
A clever inversion of the return rooms sees a family bathroom on the return, bright with two windows. The room above this on the second return is now a pretty bedroom, also dual aspect with a vaulted, painted-timber ceiling.
Two more bedrooms lie on the top floor; the main bedroom has a stunning aspect with two windows overlooking the sea. A walk-in wardrobe and en suite, which is lit from above by a Velux window, were added to the side of the bedroom by cleverly hiving off space from the bedroom behind it. Behind the principal suite is another bedroom overlooking the garden.
The ground floor is where the family spent most of their time, with a bright, west-facing kitchen and family livingroom. The kitchen features Silestone counters, an Aga cooker and the same refined and muted colour scheme as upstairs making for a calm, relaxed living space. Recessed lights and surround-sound speakers add to the high-end streamlined feel.
Double doors lead to the garden, with cut-stone walls and a row of evergreen oaks; the owner says it is a sun trap in the summer months with its southwest aspect. A block-built shed is at the end of the garden, which is wired and shelved.
Further rooms on the ground floor include a handsome study, an impressive array of storage and shelving on the ground floor corridor and understairs area, a fourth bedroom, a bathroom, a utility room, a door leading outside and under the front steps and a stone cave that worked as a wine cellar.
As well as its enviable and sought-after seafront location, the house is close to Sydney Parade Dart station, the Merrion shopping centre and Sandymount village. Number 135 Strand Road is selling through Hunters, seeking €1.95 million.
