Hidden gem on Mount Merrion for €1.3m

You could walk straight past Manneken Lodge, 13 North Avenue, and not notice the huge family home behind a cypress box hedge that wraps around the property hiding it from view. When you open the gate and walk past the sunken garden, the fine double bay-fronted house built in 1946 slowly reveals itself and another bay added in 2001 by the present owners. The extension by architects Randall McDonnell is seamless.

This is a very fine family home that extends to 250sq m (2961sq ft). There is room for any number of children to bring their friends round. The leaded window front door opens into a parquet hall with a formal livingroom, originally two rooms but opened up and a new chimney breast built towards the centre of the space by a previous owner, where the owners have enjoyed 29 happy Christmases. Across the parquet hall is the formal diningroom.

Originally these houses had a breakfast room and a galley kitchen to the rear.

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The former is now a family room and the galley kitchen has been super sized, now spanning the depth of the house with glazing to the south and west to maximize the room’s sunny orientation.

Doors open out to the garden, a gorgeous expanse of manicured lawn that wraps around the front of the house and stretches to about 150 ft wide and 60 ft deep. It has a pond that had fish until a heron and a fox, a pescetarian, tucked into its contents.

To the rear of the kitchen there is even more living space, in a single storey extension, another big room that the owners have christened the playhouse where their children held many parties. It has a separate entrance from the garden, a small kitchen and a shower en suite and would work as a granny flat, au pair accommodation or room for an adult child.

There is also a utility room with downstairs hot press and a guest toilet.

Upstairs the four double bedrooms are all a fine size with two to the front mirroring each other and enjoying a bay window, plenty of storage and a shower en suite bathroom.

The bedroom in the new extension has gorgeous garden views from windows on two sides and a shower en suite. From the fourth bedroom you can see the Poolbeg Towers and the city lights at night.

The property is well located in terms of schools, proximity to UCD and to the bus corridor and is asking €1.3 million through SherryFitzGerald.

Lisney have just sale agreed 8 North Avenue, which was asking €825,000 and Gaybrook, which was asking €875,000. Number 52 North Avenue sold for €660,000 in January, according to the Property Price Register. All are much smaller properties to number 13.