A magically quick makeover in Monkstown back on the market for €1.295m

Melmore, a two-storey-over- basement house at 2 Brighton Avenue in Monkstown, last changed hands in late 2010. The period house had been on the market for just three weeks for €1.295 million when the current owners saw it, made an offer and quickly sealed the deal for €1.22 million – and that was at a time when sales in Dublin at this end of the market had fallen back to a tiny trickle.

The couple, who were returning to Ireland after many years abroad, now explain the speed of their decision by saying simply that they fell in love with the house. They’re selling now because having found their feet back in Ireland they want to move further out of Dublin. The house is back on the market with an asking price of €1,575,000 through Savills.

The price rise and the short timeframe suggest a quick flip but having moved in to what was a beautifully presented house, the owners decided to renovate and once that work started, the list of changes and improvements quickly grew so that now 2 Brighton Avenue has 241sq m (2,604sq ft) of space. The work, which as well as a very smart conservatory extension, included the invisible but expensive business of damp proofing, particularly in the basement; rewiring; installing new heating; and the rest, and the cost, the owners say, came close to €300,000.

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The house is in a handsome terrace on the quiet road that links Monkstown Road to the sea road. Built in 1835, the house is early Victorian, with a grand hall, two large interconnecting reception rooms and period details such as fine plasterwork and tall sash windows. As with the rest of the house, it is painted and furnished with particularly suitable colours and furniture.

The kitchen is in the back return at hall level. The current owners greatly extended it by adding on a triple-glazed, custom-built conservatory which they now use as a breakfast room. Because of the differing levels, the extension is a few steps down from the kitchen area.

Reinstated staircase
When they bought, the basement was a self-contained apartment with its own access to the front. They reinstated the internal staircase – as luck would have it, the original spindles were still in the garage – and now this area has one room to the front, another to the back and a full bathroom. Work on the back garden included digging out a patio outside the back room at basement level and putting in glazed double doors that open onto it. While the owners use these rooms as living space, the agents suggest one of them could be used as a fourth bedroom.

Upstairs there are two large doubles – one with an ensuite – and a third smaller double. The small family bathroom is in the top-floor return. There are glimpses of the sea from the bedroom windows.

At the end of the landscaped back garden is a garage – recently reroofed – opening on to a wide lane. There’s a mews house along the lane which suggests that, planning permitting, adding one could be an option for new owners.

There is on-street parking to the front.