Dramatic price plunge in Rathmines

DUBLIN 6 €2.75m: First on the market for €10 million, this six-bedroom period house has had a severe price cut, writes ALANNA GALLAGHER

CLADDAGH, NUMBER NINE Temple Villas on Palmerston Road in Rathmines, Dublin 6, is a fine detached property on one of the area’s premier roads.

The six-bedroom house first went on the market in May 2008 priced at €10 million. Six months later, the price had been dropped by €2 million. An agent change and it is back on the market with an asking price of €2.75 million through Sherry FitzGerald.

The red-brick house was the one-time home of architect Thomas Aloysius Coleman, a founding partner in the firm Ashlin Coleman Architects who redesigned Clerys after it was damaged in the 1916 Rising, as well as working on Blackrock, Clongowes and St Patrick’s Colleges and Cobh Cathedral.

The period property has been sympathetically refurbished and measures 377sq m (4,060sq ft) in size.

There are two large reception rooms to the front, a drawing room with a bay window, and a dining room. Both rooms have period-style fireplaces. They also have fine plasterwork detail and other period features such as dado rails and ceiling roses.

The entrance hall is suitably grand, with the original tiles outside the front door and panels of stained glass setting the tone for the rest of the interior.

A set of steps leads down to the enormous ground floor return. The kitchen is vast, combining a dining and living area and spanning the width of the house. The room is bright, with light coming from windows on three sides as well as numerous roof lights.

The painted kitchen by Chalon includes a large free-standing piece in cherrywood that integrates the fridge freezer. A large island frames the space. It has a pine counter top and a butler’s sink. There is a cream electric Aga with a gas hob. The countertops are stone as is the floor.

A gas-fired fireplace in the sitting room of this large space means you could happily live in this part of the house, especially in summer.

The kitchen opens onto a large limestone patio with red-brick detailing and a smaller raised lawn and pergola. The back of the house is west-facing, enjoying the evening sun.

A TV room leads off the kitchen. By the scale of the other rooms on this floor, it feels cosy – the perfect place to watch a movie en famille.

There is also a large cloakroom, a guest wc and a sizeable utility room with Belfast-style sink and separate access to the front of the house with a place to keep the bins discreetly hidden from view.

On the first floor return, there are two double bedrooms. The master bedroom is to the front of the house on the first floor and the en suite has a marble-topped sink, a separate rainwater shower and a large Airbath.

All six bedrooms have en-suite bathrooms with Fired Earth tiling and built-in storage sympathetic to the style of the house.

A roof lantern at the top of the house allows light to pour down into the middle of the property.

9 Temple Villas, Rathmines, Dublin 6

Six-bedroom detached period property

Agent: Sherry FitzGerald