Elegant Edwardian in Terenure

It was no surprise to learn that this large, double-faced corner house was built by Edwardian builder John Hanna for himself: it has the look of a house meant to stand out from its neighbours. Hanna built it in 1908 and, among other advantages, added a coach house to the side which today is a large, solid garage with extension possibilities.

When Anthony and Una Holden bought 38 Hannaville Park, Terenure, Dublin 6W, in 1988 they paid £72,000. Now, 28 years and a lot of care, work and family life later, they are downsizing and selling through agent DNG for an asking price of €925,000.

Anthony Holden describes their home as "very symmetrical" and this is how it feels. It has a floor area of 186sq m (2,000sq ft), four bedrooms (the main en suite), three reception rooms, a kitchen/break- fast room and two bathrooms.

Landscaped gardens

Original Edwardian features abound and the front and rear gardens are landscaped. The rear garden, with its high walls, circular lawn, arum lilies, roses, clematis and way of catching the sun, is especially inviting. The house, Anthony Holden says, “will be hard to leave but has become too large”.

Stained glass in and around the front door, mirrored in a stained-glass window on the first stair return, throws light across the Edwardian style of the entrance hallway, made notably interesting by pair of plaster heads high on either side at the hall’s end.

A formal, front-facing livingroom is a quiet space with a bay window and high, mahogany fireplace mantel with ornate carving and a shelf. The room also has a fine ceiling rose.

A second reception room has another handsome mantel and bay window. Panelled, stained-glass doors the width of the room lead to a rear diningroom with yet another hardwood fireplace and French windows to the garden.

Cast-iron fireplaces

The kitchen/breakfast room has a white-beamed ceiling, ceramic tiled floor and a deal of light from two Velux windows as well as windows over the rear garden. There is a front-facing bay window in the main bedroom, a wall of sliding wardrobes and, where there was once a box room, a tiled, en suite shower.

Two of the other bedrooms have cast-iron fireplaces and all have fitted wardrobes. A large attic space is, according to Anthony Holden, “floored, insulated and ready to go”.