In 1990 when the property at the entrance to the newly developed Belmont estate built just off the N11 dual carriageway by Durkans came on the market it was a very different proposition to what it is now.
At the time it was a collection of tumbledown cottages and outbuildings dating from the 1870s. The buyers – who effectively were buying a tight site – had considerable vision and energy because when they moved on nine years later they had transformed the old buildings into a cosy 88sq m (950sq ft) two-bed single-storey granite cottage that was so desirable it sold at auction for £255,000, well over the guide price of £200,000.
The people who bought lived in the house – by then called Nephin Lodge – pretty much as was and moved on about five years later putting it to auction again where it was withdrawn at €560,000 and selling soon after.
Now once again for sale, Nephin Lodge comes to the market a very different proposition having been more than doubled in size by its current owners, a young family, who have also upgraded the kitchen and bathrooms and smartly redecorated throughout so that it is in turnkey condition.
Agent Sherry FitzGerald is seeking €895,000 for the 195sq m (2,099sq ft) detached family home.
The 2008 renovation changed the entrance – so that it is now a good-sized porch with a Terrazzo-tiled floor and part-panelled walls opening into the inner hall. There’s a large livingroom – introducing as much light as possible was clearly in the brief to the architect as it has three windows and two Velux roof lights. This opens via part-glazed double doors into the extensively glazed and roomy open-plan kitchen and dining area.
A bespoke kitchen was commissioned, painted timber units topped with granite, a double Belfast sink and a large island. In here there are large stone floor tiles, in the livingroom the flooring is walnut.
There are three bedrooms downstairs plus two rooms in the converted attic, one used as a bedroom, the other a playroom. There is also a shower-room up here. The main bedroom, with en suite and dressing area, opens out to its own private courtyard. A small home office completes the accommodation.
The kitchen opens out to the south easterly courtyard garden finished for low maintenance with Indian sandstone and granite paved areas.
The Belmont estate, with its substantial, near-identical four-bed houses, is popular with families, one recently sold for €815,000. Nephin Lodge, at its entrance, is a different offering, being a one-off characterful property, its exterior a mix of old granite and mellow brick, that comes to the market in walk-in condition where the owners have maximised the site by extending to make a roomy spacious home.
