Residential

A house divided that can stand alone

Five-bed in Monkstown with large garden for €1.95m

Bernice Harrison's face
Bernice Harrison
Thu Mar 10 2016 - 02:00

Given its size, it is surprising to learn that Easton Lodge is in fact half a house – not that you would notice once inside – but when it was built in 1882, it was part of a vast detached 650sq m (7,000sq ft) Victorian pile built on more than an acre.

Some time in the 1960s the house on Monkstown Road was divided vertically, with one half becoming Beechfield House. That house has 368sq m (3,960sq ft) of space including the original front door, the fine staircase, the larger reception rooms and the gate lodge. It last changed hands in 2004 when it sold at auction for €2.5 million.

Meanwhile, Easton Lodge, which has 251sq ft (2,706sq ft) of space, was reconfigured with a new staircase, kitchen and a more modest entrance and hall. It also has a basement, though unlike the one in Beechfield, it is unused.

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Long garden

Like several neighbouring houses, Easton Lodge has its back to the busy road and the entrance is to the side of the house. It opens in to a small porch and then to the hallway where the 1960s-installed staircase is.

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Off this, to the right, is a lovely reception room with one tall window looking out on the 61m-long garden and another on to the gravelled parking circle with large flowerbed at the front door.

Several rooms in the house have this dual aspect which helps make Easton Lodge a bright, light-filled home. To the left off the hall is the small eat-in kitchen, a utility room, a diningroom and a study. Upstairs there is a rambling feel with five bedrooms, one of which has a bathroom en suite. The family bathroom has a fantastic mint green suite that is very much of its time but if buyers are retro fans they might keep it.

Basement conversion

The new owners will probably renovate throughout and rework the layout to create a large eat-in kitchen and convert the basement.

The agent also suggests that, as many of the older houses in the area have new-builds in their long gardens and that as Easton Lodge has a very long half-acre, southwest-facing garden, this might also be a possibility here.