Residential

Bedrooms a-plenty on Pembroke for €1.4 million

This Georgian townhouse has a chequered recent history – almost all the rooms were made into en-suite bedrooms. But it retains its period features and with imagination – and cash – could be an elegant family home

Bernice Harrison's face
Bernice Harrison
Thu Mar 6 2014 - 00:00

A three-storey-over-basement house at 44 Pembroke Road, Dublin 4 has the sort of chequered recent past that’s not unusual with houses in top locations for sale by receivers.

The period terraced house last changed hands in 2005 when it was in need of renovation as it had been carved up into flatland bedsits. The new owner carried out major work including adding a three-storey extension at the rear (the house next door was renovated at the same time). Indeed it is one of a pair with the house next door, both share a front gate and a flight of stone entrance steps leading up to their hall doors.

In 2009, not long after the work was completed, number 44 came back on the market with an asking price of €2.5million. Several price drops later the house remained unsold and, when the receiver stepped in, it was let out. Now the very large house with 334sq m (3,595sq ft) is for sale by Hooke & MacDonald for €1.4 million.

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It’s difficult to figure what the owner’s intention was for this house. It is not currently laid out as a family home, instead it’s more like a small hotel or guest house. There are eight en-suite double bedrooms on all levels in the house, indeed the only rooms that have not been converted into bedrooms are the two hall-level reception rooms and a small room at the front at basement level.

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Indeed, the corporate let was not the upmarket family rental that would be more usual for a Dublin 4 period house. It was most recently let out to a company who housed its employees there. And the two reception rooms at hall level which should be adjoining are two separate rooms because the double doors have been removed and the opening blocked up. The doors, obviouly, could be reinstated.

The kitchen in the basement return was intended in the original plans as a utility room which gives an indication of its size.

New owners will want to do some work – definitely redecorate, as the house has the dinginess that often comes with rental, and if it’s a family they will want to reorganise the basement level to create a big kitchen whether at the front of the house or at the back.

They will almost certainly get rid of some of the en suites particularly the one in the main bedroom at the front on the first floor as it spoils the proportions of the room which could be lovely – it would have originally have been the formal drawing room of this period house as is clear from the highly decorative plasterwork on the ceiling.

While this house needs imagination – and money – to bring it back into family use, its advantages are the ample square footage, the period details such as the fireplaces and cornice work, the (now unloved) back garden which is good-sized for a townhouse, and of course the location.

Number 44 is on a prime spot on Pembroke Road as it looks straight down Wellington Road and has distant views of the mountains from its top windows.