Looking for… a family home in Clontarf

Clontarf has long established itself as one of Dublin’s most desirable residential suburbs thanks to its proximity to the city and the sea, its abundance of amenities and quality housing stock. The leafy mid-century housing estates and cul-de-sacs are in high demand and the following houses are new to the market, offering good value to aspiring buyers in the area.

7 Dollymount Rise, Clontarf, Dublin 3

€650,000, Savills, 149sq m (1,604sq ft)

Dollymount Rise is a quiet cul-de-sac off Dollymount Park, which comprises 19 similar homes. The house is minutes from the shops on St Gabriel’s Road and from the seafront.

Built in the 1960s, Number 7 is a substantial family home requiring modernisation. Downstairs there are good-sized interconnecting reception rooms, an eat-in kitchen, a cloakroom and a garage. Upstairs there are three double bedrooms, one single, and a family bathroom. While potential buyers will need imagination where the interior is concerned, the south-facing rear garden, measuring 23m (75ft) in length, is instantly appealing and there is room aplenty for a rear extension. Behind the garden lies a laneway and most homes on this side of the street have rear pedestrian access.

The owners of the adjoining house were granted planning permission five years ago to enlarge their house to 210sq m by building a first floor extension above the garage and a single-storey open plan kitchen cum living room to the rear. Potential buyers of Number 7 may use a similar design if extending as this would improve the upstairs accommodation greatly, providing additional room to create a second bathroom and to either enlarge existing bedrooms or create a fifth bedroom.

The asking price mirrors the selling price of the last house to have sold in the cul-de-sac, which was Number 3 in 2010. The market clearly has taken a marked upswing since then and the €650,000 asking price is likely to garner some interest. In 2003, a similar house two doors down sold for €750,000. It was detached but had a smaller rear garden. Two years later, a similar detached house across the street with a north-facing garden sold for €1.05 million.

41 Castle Grove, Clontarf, Dublin 3

€725,000, Sherry FitzGerald, 125sq m (1,345sq ft)

Number 41 is an attractive redbrick semi-detached house conveniently located off the Howth Road, in close proximity to Killester Dart station and the Supervalu shopping centre.

The front garden has off-street parking for two cars, while the remainder is laid out in grass and shrubbery. The entrance hall leads to two interconnecting reception rooms, a family room and a kitchen cum dining room to the rear. Four bedrooms, two double and two single, and a family bathroom complete the accommodation.

The kitchen is likely to be extended by future owners as it is small by modern standards, but this should have little impact on the house’s star selling point, its 34m (110ft) south-facing rear garden, which is absolutely superb and backs onto Clontarf Rugby Club.

Homes on this side of the street rarely trade hands compared to those with north-facing gardens across the street, which command less of a premium. Even the north-facing counterparts achieved up to €1 million at the height of the boom. Only one house on the sunny side of the street has sold in recent years. Number 39, the house next door, sold for €840,000 in 2014. That house was almost identical to Number 41 but was in better condition and featured a converted attic and a small rear kitchen extension. At €115,000 less, Number 41 seems good value by comparison as this difference in price would fund a thorough overhaul and extension.

63 Kincora Drive, Clontarf, Dublin 3

€560,000, Quillsen, 140sq m (1,500sq ft)

Dating from 1957 Number 63 is a sizeable family home located in the heart of Clontarf, close to a host of amenities.

The home’s interior could clearly benefit from modernisation throughout, but it has great potential. The house has two reception rooms with original fireplaces, a kitchen cum dining room, a conservatory, a study and an own-door covered side passage providing access to the rear garden. On the first floor there are three bedrooms and a family bathroom.

To the rear is an 18m (59ft) west-facing garden offering plenty of room for expansion. Many houses on the street have been renovated and extended in recent years and the most common course of action has been to raze the rear lean-to kitchen in favour of constructing a single-storey extension spanning the width of the house. Two neighbours have been more daring, opting for substantial two-storey rear extensions. Surprisingly, few owners opted to convert their garages and some actually reinstated original garage doors and re-converted side rooms back to their original use.

Number 63’s price is very competitive in the current market. In 2006, a near-identical house without converted garage sold a few doors down for about €1.125 million. The new owners subsequently renovated, added a rear kitchen extension and converted the attic – bringing the house to 192sq m in total.

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