Ample comfort in Iona Park

The houses in Drumcondra’s Iona area offer the clearest example of how househunters on Dublin’s northside can get a bigger bang for their buck than their southside counterparts.

No 1 Iona Park is a four bed semi-detached house with 164 m² ( 1765 ft²) for sale through Sherry FitzGerald for €875,000.

It was built by Alexander Strain who also developed the surrounding roads and lined them with fine family-sized redbrick houses filled with attractive period features.

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This is a typical Strain house, handsome and solid-looking and from its good-sized hall it feels roomy and bright from the hall door in.

The large living rooms, divided by original sliding doors, have high ceilings, fine fireplaces and the front room is particularly large because of the bay window.

The four bedrooms are made up of two doubles and two singles. The main bedroom, which is to the front has a bay window and a fine original fireplace.

Over the years, and relatively recently by the look of it, the returns on both levels were reworked.

Downstairs what would originally have been a couple of small rooms have been knocked through to make one large bright room with the kitchen at the far end and a living area to the front with an open fire.

The kitchen area opens out onto the garden and while the units are modern the entire area could benefit from a rethink in terms of layout to make it more workable for the young family who will probably buy.

Upstairs in the bright return there’s a recently renovated and smartly-done bathroom and a separate toilet as well as the house’s smallest bedroom.

Typical Strain features still intact include the lovely stained glass windows in the front door and bay windows. The plain ceiling cornices through the house’s principal rooms are typically Edwardian.

This is an executor’s sale and undoubtedly new owners will update but they will be starting from a good point as the house has clearly been well maintained and updated for comfort as the years have gone on.

The west facing back garden is 70ft long and there are couple of brick sheds in disrepair. There is off-street parking to the front, a bonus in this area as the planners are keen to maintain the look of these leafy roads and have proven reluctant to allow homeowners do away with the lovely wrought iron railings to the front to make a drive-in.