Donnybrook gem close to leafy Herbert Park riches

Sales brochures for houses on Victoria Avenue rarely fail to include a photograph showing a great expanse of neatly trimmed lawn, a couple of cherry trees in full bloom and maybe even a glimpse of a duck-filled lake.

It’s not to suggest that the houses on the neat Donnybrook road have majestic back gardens waiting for new owners to install a trampoline, rather it’s a reminder of a key selling point of the smart looking terraced red-bricks – their proximity to Herbert Park, one of the most attractive, amenity-rich, city parks. These lockdown days every part of it is busy most times of the day, from the families with young children in the much improved playground to the fitness fiends by the outdoor gym equipment.

Number 30 Victoria Avenue – now for sale through Lisney seeking €895,000 – last changed hands just over 20 years ago, getting a major renovation around 2006 for the growing family when the work included extending to the rear and going up into the attic.

It now has 126sq m (1,356sq ft) – excluding the attic, used for guests and a teenage hangout – three bedrooms, two doubles and a single, a reception room and a family friendly eat-in kitchen. The living room has two sash windows and a cast-iron fireplace, retaining the home’s period feel while the roomy kitchen to the rear with its floor to ceiling glazing, including a large sliding door, is clearly a more recent addition.

Most buyers extend to the rear when they buy one of these houses which can greatly eat into the outdoor space, however the plan for this new kitchen area across the rear left room for bikes, and a seating area. A guest toilet is tucked away under the stairs. A section of exposed brick is a design feature in the family bathroom.

There is pedestrian access via a lane that runs along the rear of this side of the avenue, a plus in a terraced house, though there is space for the bins to the front in the small garden.

The most recent house to come on the market on this road, number 33, is now sale agreed. End of terrace and in need of updating throughout it had been quoting €795,000.