Magic eights: two Portabello properties at opposite ends of the same street

This renovated one-bed period house with plenty of space for entertaining for €450,000 and a three-bed Victorian redbrick with an east-facing garden and raised deck


Twenty-five years ago the owner of 17 Arnott Street concentrated his house search in the Portobello area because of its proximity to the city centre. Eventually he decided upon this charming Portobello period redbrick house.

When he renovated it 11 years ago he made the unusual move of downsizing the house from two to one bedrooms.

The property opens into a French-oak floored hall where a lovely proportioned sitting room is to the left.

The room is dual aspect and has high ceilings (about 13ft), a cast-iron fireplace and cornicing.

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A set of steps leads down into a large timber-floored dining room with a gas fire and French doors leading out to the west-facing patio.

A sliding door opens to reveal a bright galley kitchen with roof lights. The kitchen has granite worktops.

Another sliding door opens into an equally bright home office.

Behind yet another door is a set of steps that lead up to a sizeable – for houses on this street – utility room with side access onto McMahon Street.

Out here is a roofed patio that traps the morning sun. This construction takes an all-weather outdoor room but it shades the sunken part of the patio which, while west-facing, only gets the sun for part of the afternoon.

The dining room is the best room for enjoying the evening sun.

Upstairs is the bedroom, another nice sized dual-aspect room with no built-in storage. Beside it is a roomy bathroom, with a bath beneath the window and a separate shower.

The house has lots of reception space but only one bedroom, a bonus according to the current owner as there isn’t room to accommodate guests.

While single households are on the rise, the current configuration makes it difficult to envisage where a second bedroom might be installed if it is required; without, that is, losing the lovely period room to the front.

The house has an E2 BER rating. Parking is on-street.