Number 25 Mounttown Road Lower sits on an elevated site halfway between Upper Glenageary Road and Tivoli Road in Dún Laoghaire, giving it a commanding view over Monkstown and to the Dublin Mountains. In the evening, say the owners, you can see the lights of Dublin city.
The property is also well set back from Mounttown Road Lower, providing a feeling of privacy even in this busy part of south Co Dublin. The double-glazed windows to the front block out most of the traffic noise.
When the owners bought the house in 2009, it had already been extended to the back and over the years they upgraded the property, converting the garage into a study/den/playroom and putting a utility room beside the kitchen.
They took out the small WC in the hall, converting it into a cloak/bootroom, and put in a larger guest WC between the utility room and the den.
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They had a good footprint to work with: this semidetached house, built around the 1940s, is sturdy and spacious, with almost 3m-high ceilings, picture rails and dado rails, and large bay windows in both the main reception room and principal bedroom.
The house has a C3 Ber rating and measures 160sq m (1,722sq ft). It is for sale through Sherry FitzGerald, seeking €1.095 million.
Another fine feature of this house is its extra-long back garden, extending to 37.5m (123ft) of well-established lawn bordered by mature plants and trees.
This garden faces east, and gets plenty of morning sun, but thanks to its length and elevated position, it benefits from southerly sun for most of the day. It also gives great potential for creating additional living spaces, subject to planning permission.
To the front of the house is a driveway with parking for several cars, and granite steps lead up to the hall door, which is flanked by floor-to-ceiling glazing, and opens in to a generous entrance lobby with tiled floor and windows on each side.
The entrance hall has an engineered wood floor with dado rail, with the cloakroom to the right, another generous storage closet to the left, and understairs storage.
The large livingroom to the front has a bay window with double glazing, picture rail and a marble surround fireplace with bespoke fitted storage cabinets and shelves on either side.
The kitchen/dining/familyroom to the back is open plan, with a central pillar grounding the space and providing an ideal spot for the kitchen island/breakfast bar. The kitchen is fitted with Shaker-style units and has granite countertops.
The owners took down a wall separating the kitchen from the family room to open out the area, and now you can really get the full effect of the vaulted extension with its large windows, roof lights and full-height glazed doors leading out to the paved patio and back garden.
There’s a porthole window at the south end of the extension; during the winter solstice, say the owners, the sun aligns nicely with the porthole, turning the extension into a mini Newgrange of sorts.
Halfway up the stairs is another large window bringing in light, and the spacious landing has room for a handy storage cabinet. There are three large bedrooms upstairs, two doubles and one generous single, all with picture rails.
The principal bedroom to the front has a large bay window with superb views over the rooftops of Monkstown.
The family bathroom to the rear is a generous size with two large windows and mosaic tiling on the walls. The bath has a rainwater showerhead and additional shower attachment.
This is the only room in the house that would need any renovation: new owners may want to replace the linoleum flooring and perhaps update the green mosaic tiling on the walls.
Lower Mounttown Road is within walking distance of Monkstown village, where the Dart will bring you into the city centre in 25 minutes. The Tesco at Honey Park is just a short way along Upper Glenageary Road, and there’s a range of schools in the vicinity, including CBC Monkstown, St Joseph’s National School and Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art Design and Technology.
