This renovated redbrick homes lies towards the upper end of Merrion View Avenue, beside an entrance to St Michael’s College. Close to the Merrion Shopping Centre and down the road from Sydney Parade Dart station, the avenue is a quiet double row of terraced houses with on-street parking for residents.
Many of the houses here have been done up, and, when the current owners this property in 2020, nothing less than a complete renovation was called for. Now upgraded and extending to 160sq m (1,730sq ft), this three-bedroom home at 9 Merrion View Avenue is for sale through DNG Donnybrook, seeking €1.05 million. It has a B2 Ber.
The owners knew what they wanted: to break through the warren of rooms and create one open space on the ground floor, filled with light from as many windows as possible. They installed underfloor heating and lay concrete slabs on the floor, which are now covered in a pale herringbone oak parquet in the hallway and sittingroom, with limestone tiles in the roomy kitchen and living area beyond it.
The front door opens from the street into a lovely hallway, panelled and painted in Farrow & Ball All White. On the left is the front sittingroom, with louvred shutters on the window overlooking the street, letting the southwest light stream in, but ensuring a measure of privacy.
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The same panelling in the hallway is brought in here and a large open fireplace could facilitate a stove, and there is fitted shelving either side of the chimney breast. Through an open doorway is another living area with a cosy gas inset stove. This leads on to the bright dining area, lit by a subtly angled roof light and a pair of windows high in the wall.
A stunning kitchen, from the Panelling Centre, lies beyond painted light-blue, where almost all the units are drawers rather than cupboards. The worktops on the units and the large central island are a pale quartz. An island is navy and has an integrated wine fridge. At the end of the kitchen, bifold doors open to reveal a utility room and a guest loo, papered in a fun wallpaper. Sliding doors pull back to a courtyard garden with granite paving; it is small but maintenance free.
Upstairs are three bedrooms and a family bathroom. The main bedroom overlooks the street, has two sash windows and a handsome en suite with a marble- topped washstand. The main bathroom has ware by Sonas and another marble-topped washstand the owner brought over from England. Wardrobes were done by the builders.
Decorative touches in the bedrooms range from a vibrant jungle-theme wallpaper in one of the rooms to a delicately depicted blue sky with clouds in a small bedroom to the back.
A study has been created in a converted attic, which has enough room for a guest bed tucked underneath the Velux window. Light floods in here thanks to the addition of an interior window overlooking the stairs.
After a complete renovation, the owners have their hearts set on doing it all again, saying they will miss the stellar location, the convenience and also a tiny fragment of home they cannot take with them – a portion of the wall from the family pub in Listowel, set behind glass.
