Walk-in grandeur in D4 for €2.5m

Number 56 Northumberland Road is returning to the market for auction 11 years after it last went under the hammer. The house, which is not far from Dublin city centre and close to Ballsbridge, is a two-storey over-garden level four-bedroom period house.

It’s very different looking now though, having been stylishly renovated with meticulous attention to detail by its current owners, a family with two small children.

When they bought the mid-terrace house in 2003 – it went to auction then with an AMV of €1.9 million – it had been lived in by the same family for 45 years. Viewers at the time will have noted that its layout and décor were close to the original.

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Now the family home combines modern comforts with the grand proportions and details of an imposing redbrick Victorian. With four bedrooms and 382sq m (4,100sq ft) it is for auction on February 25th through Lisney with an AMV of €2.5 million.

It has a particularly grand entrance: beyond the Italianate-style porch with its cut stone arch supported by decorative topped pillars of polished granite, the front door, which is framed by stained glass windows, opens into a superb inner hallway.

Dramatic detail

It has a turned staircase and a view right up to the roof with its two large rooflights fitted with coloured glass which is an unusual and dramatic-looking detail. At hall level there are three principal rooms including two interconnecting rooms on the left; the front is a drawing room, the back a formal diningroom. There’s also a study at the rear of the house and a guest toilet to the front.

As the house had been relatively untouched for decades, the elaborate cornice work in all rooms and the hall at this level were intact. There are also impressive fireplaces in both main reception rooms as well as fireplaces in the bedrooms. Replica cast-iron radiators were sourced for the livingrooms.

Four bedrooms

Upstairs the first of the four bedrooms is in the return and has an en suite. There are three more double bedrooms off the gallery landing, the main bedroom at the front with its bay window mirroring the front reception room in size.

The family bathroom, a large room with a shower and a freestanding bath, is in the top return. Down at garden level, which is also accessed from under the front steps, the ceilings are high and there’s a feeling of spaciousness thanks to the large hallway. There are also three more principal rooms. The bright kitchen to the front has a Siematic kitchen with a striking red Aga and a stone-topped island unit.

The family room is to the back; there’s another room here which could be used as a fifth bedroom as there is a bathroom nearby.

Protected structure

The house, which is on a terrace of houses opposite St Mary’s Road, has a good open view to the front.

It is a protected structure which usually gives buyers pause but it’s unlikely to be a factor in the buying decision here because it’s hard to see what anyone might want to add or change. Everything has been done and to a particularly high standard.

While the location, so close to the city centre, will be a plus for many househunters, it does have some drawbacks. Northumberland Road is a busy main thoroughfare into the city.

The house is mid-terrace so there is no back entrance – the mews site was sold decades ago – and the landscaped back garden is northeast-facing.

As for the neighbours, the house on one side is in office use, while the one on the other side is a medical clinic. Both are busy in terms of comings and goings and mean that the back garden is likely to only feel truly private at weekends.

There is off-street parking for three cars.