Keys to Fitzwilliam Square come with €645k city home

Mackies Place is a secluded and venerable cul-de-sac of five Georgian townhouses just off Pembroke Street in Dublin 2. Dating from 1835, Number 2, a double-fronted butter brick house, which is home to two architects.

The couple purchased the 85sq m property in 2015 for €405,000, and are now trading up due to a growing family, having placed their home on the market through Savills with an asking price of €645,000. While this is an ambitious price, buyers are willing to pay a premium for Georgian properties in this location; next door, number 3, at 127sq m, sold in January 2017 for €787,500.

Interiors are simple and pared back, allowing the period details to shine through. Upstairs, accessed via a dramatic spiral staircase, are two fine double bedrooms – both of which are en suite.

Period fireplaces

On the ground floor lie a living room and an open-plan hallway and diningroom and further bathroom. Both rooms have period fireplaces which now run on gas. To the rear is a galley-style kitchen with access to a small courtyard.

The couple had intended to change the configuration of the property and were granted permission in 2016, which would add a rooftop terrace by moving the diningroom and kitchen upstairs, and a bedroom downstairs. In addition a cellar – which the couple only discovered a year after living in the property and is currently used as storage – has permission for a utility room, which will be full height.

A benefit of the property, besides its city centre location, is that new residents will get keys for the privately owned Fitzwilliam Square, which is shared between a handful of residents in the area. “It’s a super facility, as there is rarely anyone there, and we use it all summer for family picnics,” says the owner.

During the viewing the owner says: “One of the drawbacks, though, is there isn’t a bottle bank nearby.” As if on cue, a neighbour knocks at the door to say he’s off to recycle – do the family have any empty bottles?

“We’ve lovely neighbours,” he says.