Dublin 4: €825,000A two-bedroom house at 15 Sandford Avenue, Donnybrook, Dublin 4 is expected to make €825,000 at auction through Douglas Newman Good on June 1st.
It is not a large house but its compact size will have great appeal for many different people; for example, an older couple trading down from a large house in the area, an affluent singleton, or a young couple, perhaps with a small family. What each will like about the house, built in 1990, is sure to be the location close to the city centre in a quiet cul-de-sac mid way along Marlborough Road.
The innumerable amenities of Donnybrook and Ranelagh villages are within short walking distance as is the Luas.
Then there's accommodation itself: spread over 105sq m (1,130sq ft) are two good-sized reception rooms on the ground floor and two double bedrooms plus a study upstairs. The 40ft garden to the rear is nicely landscaped and paved with terracotta tiles.
While the floor area may be of modern townhouse size, the architect who designed this house was sensible enough to make a few decent-sized rooms of the space rather than try to accommodate more small rooms in a traditional layout.
From off-street car-parking, one enters the small gravelled front garden through an old-fashioned painted wooden gate. A short twisting cobblestone path leads to the front door and, once inside, a small entrance lobby opens straight into the kitchen/dining area. This is a space for casual living with Shaker-style painted kitchen units wrapping around one side of the room.
A pretty window opens above a variation on the Belfast sink. It's a traditional kind of look, helped along by putty Farrow & Ball walls and a Travertine marble floor. An island unit separates kitchen from dining and a stairs to the first floor is along one side of the room.
At the back of the house is the livingroom. It has a cast-iron fireplace with gas fire and is wired for surround sound. But what's great about this room is the windows and door to the garden. Low-level raised brick flowerbeds curve around the terracotta patio and planting is lush with olive trees and grape vines mixed into the shrubbery.
Upstairs, the main bedroom is to the rear and has stained timber floorboards and stripped wood door (as throughout the house). A small en suite with pretty Moroccan tiles and walk-in wardrobe are off this room.
The main bathroom is a good size with shower and bath below a large roof light. Next to this, at the front of the house, is the second bedroom, also with a stained wood floor. Beside it is a small room that is fitted out with storage units from Oakline and use as a home office. It could be converted back to a single bedroom easily.
