Downtrading: Upside down refurbishment

A line of chimney pots and church steeples are the vistas from the kitchen in 1 Mount Pleasant Villas. This is because the kitchen is now in what was previously the attic. Purchased in 2010 for €246,000, the entire two-storey, end-of-terrace house was gutted, refurbished and remodelled by OC Architects in Ranelagh.

The decision to invert the house – where bedrooms are now at entrance level, living and dining on the first floor, and the kitchen in a mezzanine in the former attic, was to allow maximum light flood through the property.

This upside-down house is all about lighting. Vaulted ceilings in the living area soar up to roof level and four Velux windows flood the room with light. The dining space has a false ceiling with recessed mood lighting, as does the walnut stairwell, and the entire house features dimmer switches to create the perfect ambience.

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The kitchen is fitted with modern units and polished black granite counter tops – providing an attractive contrast to the exposed brick walls, all of which have been re-pointed. The living area, warmed by a stove – the house has an energy rating of C1 – has engineered oak flooring and dual-aspect sash windows.

The two bedrooms are at entrance level, with an en-suite wet room off the larger bedroom and a further guest shower-room sits snugly behind a curved wall just inside the front door. Accessed through a communal gate, Mount Pleasant Villas is a terrace of five houses just off Oxford Road in Ranelagh. Number 1 is at the end of the terrace and though not particularly spacious – it has a footprint of 70sq m – the clever design and use of light really maximise the space.

The house is for sale through Quillsen with an asking price of €495,000.