Stillorgan: €700,000 Number 85 Slieve Rua Drive sits in a quietly maturing development in Stillorgan, Co Dublin where it was built, along with its neighbours, in the 1950s.
What makes it different, and a lot larger than many of the houses in this area off the Lwr Kilmacud Road, is a redesign and rebuilding job which, taking full advantage of its corner position, has extended the original floor space to some 202 sq m (2,184 sq ft) and radically changed the interior layout.
A muted mushroom and white colour scheme emphasises the design features. Today's house has four/five bedrooms, three reception rooms and a kitchen/ breakfastroom which is both a spacious and stylish living area. It is for sale through Lisney which is quoting a guide of €700,000 in advance of its auction on October 28th.
As a corner house number 85 had, according to the vendor, an odd shape of which the redesign has made full use. This is seen especially in Gerry McGrath's design for the kitchen / breakfastroom where a corner of the original house has been incorporated as a ballast pillar. Light filled and with a lot of "living in" space, the floor is of Italian porcelain tiles and the extensive fittings in Cherrywood.
The centre isle has a black, polished granite work top and there is both a French door and long window over the rear garden. The extensive built-in fittings include a Smeg range with six gas hobs with a griddle and double oven underneath. A utility area has a door to the side of the house.
The original dining and sitting rooms, with a double sliding door between, are off the entrance hallway. The diningroom, which has a picture window, is to the front of the house. The sittingroom has a functioning cream marble fireplace with an extra large grate. Steps lead from a French-window style patio door to steps to a rear, paved patio.
At an angle off the original entrance hallway (which has understair storage) there is a good-sized guest toilet and study. The latter has a large window over the front garden. The hallway itself gets light from leaded glass panels across the top of the door.
Upstairs, off the original landing, there is a front bedroom with built-in wardrobes and a window over the garden. A second bedroom to the front also has built-in wardrobes along with a vanity unit. A third bedroom has a bank of wardrobes and a rear window which gives views of the Three Rock mountain. A family bathroom has beige coloured marble tiles with decorative inset, a long, deep bath, toilet, wash-hand basin and heated towel rail.
The first floor addition, opposite, is taken up by the main, en suite bedroom and its dressingroom. The en suite has a walk-in shower, marble tiling, wash-hand basin, heated towel rail and toilet. The dressingroom, which is to the front, is large enough to convert to a fifth bedroom and has lots of built-in hanging and storage space.
The bedroom itself has windows to the front and rear, built-in wardrobes and a high, vaulted feature ceiling.
Sandstone slabs make for a warm-toned patio to the rear of the house. Similar stones thread the garden which has a Barna shed, a high dash wall along one side, a selection of young trees and a side entrance. There is a lawn to the front too and car-parking for several cars in the drive. The attic has been floored.
