Grand home on Church Lane is a temple of light

DUBLIN 6: €3.25MA Tardis like three-storey house in Rathmines is full of natural light and has top-notch fittings, writes Alanna Gallagher

A BLIND DATE brought former showjumper Philip Dagg and Sharon Flatley together.

The pair then moved into an old cottage in Glencormack in Co Wicklow and returned to the capital to renovate a two-storey over basement property in Clonskeagh, living onsite throughout - not exactly fun with a three-year-old and a new baby.

Six years ago the Daggs bought a site on Church Lane, Rathmines, but didn't know what to do with it until architect Brian O'Donnell of Cloonan O'Donnell Architects called in one day to show them his plans for three mews houses on an adjacent site. They really liked what he was doing and hired him to do something similar for them.

The difference being that this was going to be an enormous family home. The couple were adamant that their new build would marry the best of their home experiences to date.

Number 3 Church Lane is a three-storey bespoke property that is 297sq m (3,200sq ft) in size and echoes the grand scale of the two-storey over basement redbricks of nearby Palmerston Road. It is for sale through Sherry FitzGerald for €3.25 million.

The five-bedroom, redbrick property is just off Church Avenue, sequestered behind a wooden gate with security camera entry and off-street parking for two cars.

Friends of the family call the house the "Tardis" because its exterior belies the scale of the interior. The front door opens onto a roomy den with projector screen TV. It is at this point that you get a sense of the size of the house. The staircase echoes those of large period properties but this is most definitely a contemporary take on that style. The east-west orientation and big windows mean every room is light filled.

A set of steps take you down into the super-sized kitchen, dining and sitting area all clad in putty coloured limestone.

The wenge kitchen has twin ovens, double integrated fridges and freezer sections, enormous pull-out presses and a Corian-clad island complete with built-in breakfast bar. Off the kitchen is a utility room, and this writer's nirvana, a drying room.

The dining area is designed to enjoy the double-height ceiling space. Adjacent is a large sitting area that overlooks the garden. A folding concertinaed door means this area can extend outside.

The first floor is an oasis of calm. The formal sittingroom is deliberately televisionless and leads across a gantry outside to a second sittingroom. It's a space the adults love to use, even in winter.

The room is sheltered on three sides by the second floor walls and the aspect feels cosy thanks to the addition of electric heating and an open fire.

The vista is to the large period houses on Upper Rathmines Road - very Rear Window, says Sharon.

On the first floor return there are two bedrooms and a shower room.

There are two more bedrooms on the second floor, one is a guest room with en suite, the second is a home gym with a floor-to-ceiling mirrored wall.

The main bedroom is on the second floor return and spans the width of the house. There is a sitting area and en suite bathroom as well as a mezzanine bath, which you have to climb a set of stairs to reach. This is indeed a grown-up space and a real draw.

The finish throughout is superb with doors in solid oak, a heat recovery ventilation system, integrated vacuum and pull-chain chimney cowls to prevent draughts. There is so much storage that there are kitchen presses that the owners admit to still not filling.

The 107ft west facing garden has a limestone patio and water feature with steps leading up to a raised garden with an artificial putting green and a screened area for a trampoline and greenhouse.

3 Church Lane, Dublin 6

A three-storey, five-bedroom house with 107ft garden, built six years ago

Agent: Sherry FitzGerald