When 75 Marlborough Road was last sold 22 years ago, it was laid out in apartments and the current owner has since brought it back to its former glory.
Luckily, almost all of the original features were still intact, including beautiful arches, elaborate cornicing and cast-iron fireplaces.
In preparation for its sale, the three-bedroom, three-storey 217sq m (2335sq ft) house has been comprehensively upgraded and is now on the market in turnkey condition with Mullery O’Gara, seeking €1.65 million.
The house has been re-roofed, freshly painted inside and out, the floors have been sanded and varnished and the garden has been landscaped (it is now an absolute delight). The front windows and doors are now an attractive, subtle shade of navy.
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This beautiful Ber-exempt period home is set back from the road, which gets busy in the morning with school traffic to Muckross, and Gonzaga at its other end. The gravelled drive has parking for at least two cars, is well landscaped and has access to the ground level.
Shining porcelain tiles add light to the basement level, which houses a livingroom, an understairs storage area with washing machines, a guest loo and the kitchen.
The kitchen units were recently repainted and a large range cooker is set into the original kitchen fireplace. A marble-topped island has a sink and wine rack. There were three arches from the kitchen to the hall, the owner had two of these glazed. Floors are reclaimed pitch pine, wide and honey-stained, and there’s a dividing sliding door between the kitchen and the livingroom.
Double doors open out into the garden, which is part-paved in original tiles taken from the ground floor of the house – what would have been the tiles of the kitchen, scullery and pantry. It faces south and gets plenty of sun. There are planted beds, a pear tree and original walls of red brick and stone, creating a charming, maintenance-free space.
On the stairs to the ground floor there is a beautiful stained-glass window on the return. The hall is impressive, with a lovely arch, and opens on to interconnecting drawing and diningrooms.
The fireplaces here are lovely, marble with cast-iron insets, the coving is elaborate and intricate, and the ceiling roses are also finely detailed. The sash windows with working shutters are particularly large and flood these rooms with light. The owner has filled them with antique pieces and it almost feels like one is stepping into a previous century.
A large grand piano occupies the diningroom, which has built-in bookshelves and a window overlooking not just the garden but Carlisle Square, an oasis of mature trees that adds immensely to the area; the house and garden are full of birdsong from its many trees. A striking feature of the house is how tranquil it is; despite it being a busy time of the evening for traffic in the city, all is quiet and serene.
There are three bedrooms upstairs, and Velux windows provide additional light in rooms that also have beautiful main windows. One of the bedrooms to the front has a small en suite. There’s another newly installed bathroom on the final return and there is another room, currently laid out as an office, that is plumbed for a bathroom should new owners require an additional bathroom.
Marlborough Road connects the villages of Donnybrook and Ranelagh. Herbert Park is a quick walk away and it’s a few minutes to buses into the city on Morehampton Road. The Ranelagh green-line Luas stop is a 10-minute walk away in the other direction.
