The owners of a large period home on Grosvenor Road in Rathmines have completely refurbished it since they bought it four years ago. Orna Mulcahy reports
When the owners of this five-bedroom Gothic-style house in Rathmines moved in four years ago they were intending to stay for good.
The three-storey over garden level terraced house on leafy Grosvenor Road had everything they needed in terms of space, though the decor needed to be updated.
Embarking on a costly refurbishment, they were putting the finishing touches to the 324 sq m (3,500 sq ft) interior this summer when they spotted another house around the corner with yet more space and a bigger garden.
They weren't planning to move but it was too tempting . . . and so now 57 Grosvenor Road is back on the market. It will be auctioned by Gunne on October 7th when it's expected to make over €1.5 million.
It's a striking house in a terrace built in 1865 to a design by Alfred Gresham Jones who also designed the French embassy residence on Ailesbury Road. Inside, it has all the period detail one might expect as well as modern must-haves, such as the vast garden level kitchen with its Siematic units and double Aga in fire engine red.
Strong colours are a theme throughout the house forming the backdrop of a confident decorative scheme that perfectly complements the high ceilings and ornate plasterwork and woodwork.
Number 57 makes an instant impression with its wonderful light-filled, apple green entrance hall. A fine carved staircase draws the eye up two flights to the top of the house while straight ahead is a big drawingroom that runs across the back of the house.
Double doors lead through from the drawingroom to a spacious diningroom with both rooms united by pale carpeting, sage green walls and striking white marble fireplaces.
These are very fine reception rooms but it's clear that the family spends most of its time downstairs where there is a superb kitchen-cum-diningroom opening onto the garden and a big sittingroom at the front of the house. This level also has a playroom leading off the kitchen, and a good-sized utility room with masses of built-in storage.
The first floor is dominated by the main bedroom suite - a bedroom to the front with the wide bay window, a dressingrom with floor- to-ceiling wardrobes and a sizeable en suite bathroom with a free-standing bath and basins set in a marble topped unit.
A second bedroom at this level overlooks the back garden and has good fitted wardrobes and shelves. There is also a separate toilet at this level.
Upstairs, at the top of the house, are three further bedrooms and a large bathroom. Two of these bedrooms have excellent and expensive units, with one fitted as a home office, and the other - a large double - ideal as a children's room with wardrobes and locker-like cupboards designed to take a lot of treasures and clutter.
A small landscaped garden behind the house completes the package, while the location, within strolling distance of Rathmines and Rathgar,ill add greatly to its appeal.
For a virtual tour of this property, click on nicemove.ie
