BLACKROCK/€1.25 MILLION:This five-bedroom period villa comes with an annex that would be perfect for returning adult children, writes ALANNA GALLAGHER
THE REGENCY villa at 39 SYDNEY Avenue Blackrock is an end-of-terrace house that comes with a mews and mature gardens with plenty of room for boomerang kids – adult kids who keep coming back to the nest – or ageing parents.
The five-bedroom period house is at the sea end of Mount Merrion Avenue and measures 240sq m (2,600sq ft). It is asking €1.25 million through agents Sherry FitzGerald.
Built in about 1835, the property offers house hunters a very flexible layout. A wide, wood laminate floored hall opens onto a large drawing room that spans the width of the house.
A period-style ceramic gas-burning stove by French company Godin warms the room which has frieze-style ceiling plasterwork and a period marble fireplace. A study to the front can also be a bedroom and the main bedroom to the rear overlooks the garden. The rooms on this floor feel very spacious because they are 3.1m high.
The next owner might like to take advantage of that extra height and bring the kitchen and dining room upstairs to be on the same floor as the drawing room. This would leave all of the accommodation at garden level.
The family bathroom on the return allows users to sit in the bath and enjoy the garden in private.
Downstairs at garden level the rooms are about 2.5m high.
In its current configuration the dining room overlooks the garden to the rear. There are two double bedrooms to the front; one with an unused door that leads to a single room that is accessed via the kitchen. Off the kitchen is also a shower room and a utility room that lead out into the carefully-planted back garden.
The grey kitchen has pink tiling and is in need of some modernisation. The gas boiler, for instance, is in the kitchen. The next owner will probably want to move it elsewhere.
There is a sizeable pantry under-the granite front steps. A door opens onto the front garden, which faces west.
The back garden is mature, well-planted and utterly private. It is broken down into several areas including a tree-filled space to the rear that could be better utilised, especially if you have small kids who want room to kick a ball around.
Beside the main house is a free-standing, two-storey, one-bedroom mews of about 88sq m (945sq ft). It was built in 2000 to a design by architect Dominic Stevens. It is divided into two but reconfiguring it to its original layout would not be a big job. The bedroom is upstairs. Originally the living room, this has roof lights and is a lovely hideaway space.
The conditions of planning permission for the mews mean new owners could not rent it out but it would be ideal for personal use, for housing boomerang children, an au pair or as a granny flat. It has independent access.
The house also comes with two garages offering acres of storage as well as gated, off-street parking for a couple of cars.
39 Sydney Avenue, Blackrock, Co Dublin
Description: Regency house near the sea with mature garden
Agent: Sherry FitzGerald
