Lovingly restored in Rathmines

The couple who bought 10 Cowper Road in Rathmines a decade ago had a major task on their hands to bring the two-storey-over-basement house back to family use. The redbrick Victorian terraced house was in three flats, and a series of photos on the wall in the spare room show the extent of the work required that went far beyond removing partitions.

They gutted the house, restoring original features and extending at basement and into the attic. It’s a smart house – not least because the renovation included a Smart Home lighting system and an integrated music system with Bower and Wilkins speakers in all rooms.

The decorative plasterwork – the centre roses and coving which couldn’t be saved – were reinstated, the work carried out by the Old Mould Company. That’s a sign of the attention to detail present in the top-to-bottom renovation which took the best part of a year.

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The three-bedroom house with 187sq m (2,017sq ft) – there’s also an en-suite room used as a double bedroom in the attic – is for sale through Sherry FitzGerald for €1,400,000.

These handsome houses on Cowper Road are striking looking, and quite different from other period houses in the area – tall and narrow with an attic window in the pitched roof and well back from the road. Number 10 shares an entrance with its neighbour.

At hall level, there are two interconnecting reception rooms, upstairs there are two double bedrooms and a single as well as the family bathroom, and on up again is the attic, used as a double bedroom with a bathroom en suite.

Down at basement level, the rooms were knocked through to create an open-plan kitchen, living and dining area. A single storey extension with floor-to- ceiling glazing was added at the rear and makes space for a large dining area. The simple walnut kitchen units are topped with cream stone and there’s an Aga as well as integrated appliances. Also at this level is a full-sized bathroom which, like the other bathrooms in the house, has designer fittings and mosaic tiling.

The smart renovation is instantly obvious from the specially commissioned stained glass in the hall door to the retro-style cast-iron radiators throughout. There’s a small patio at the front which gets the sun.

This is not a house for a young family looking for a play-friendly garden. The rear garden at number 10, which is strikingly landscaped and designed, is north-facing and paved, and more of a large town garden than a suburban family one. There is off-street parking at the front for three cars.