Modest façade reveals hidden gem in Rathmines

Church Lane was never intended as one of the great Dublin 6 thoroughfares. Something of an afterthought in this gentrified part of south Dublin, it was only when adjoining derelict sites were developed by architects – originally for their own use – in the mid 2000s that it became home to a terrace of five three-storey properties.

Number 5 sits in the middle and was previously the home of architects Brian O'Donnell and Nicki Cloonan of CODA Architects. They sold in 2011 to the current owners, an American couple, for €1.1million. It's now for sale through Sherry FitzGerald asking €1.4 million.

The front façade is hidden behind a basic mews-style lock-up garage door and a narrow entry. But appearances can be deceptive, and once through the small gravel courtyard and into the hall, it’s a very different story.

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Skylight

High ceilings and tall doorways maximise the already substantial 255sq m, (2,750sq ft) of floor space that’s been laid out over three floors. There’s a clear view from the entrance to the living/dining area and on to the rear garden, while the central staircase vaults up through the building to a skylit roof. Every inch of space here has been carefully thought through, and the result is a four-bedroom house with two studies – which could equally work as dens or media rooms – an upstairs sittingroom opening out to a deck, and a kitchen/livingroom that extends via fold-back glass doors to a contemporary patio area designed as an “outdoor room”.

The attention to design detail is evident throughout, and the oak floored kitchen/ livingroom with its custom-made Italian kitchen along the back wall makes this room seem vast with discrete lighting separating the kitchen, dining and living functions. There’s a study at this level with open fireplace, that could just as easily work as a playroom or den.

Flexible space

At first-floor level is a smaller sittingroom with an open fireplace, and doors out to a timber-floored terrace. From here you can see the neighbouring gardens, all virtually identical in size, except those of this house and Number 6, next door, which have extra room at the end. Number 5’s garden beyond the patio area is laid to lawn and the additional room at the end is a children’s space. The gardens are overlooked to the rear by the string of tall Victorian terraces facing onto Rathmines Road.

On the next landing to the front are two narrow bedrooms, which can be joined as one via a sliding wall halfway along. Currently open, it makes best sense in this configuration as a bedroom on one side and a gym area on the other but it’s clear how this could work as a play area or teenage den too. There’s another double room and narrow study on the next landing. At the top of the house is the main bedroom which, though built into the roof, still has high ceilings, while double doors with lovely plantation shutters ensure light is not compromised.

The en suite features a narrow flight of steps upwards to a sunken Jacuzzi bath, ideal for warm soaks under the moonlit skylight overhead. As you do.

That’s the thing about 5 Church Lane, while period properties will always have their aesthetic allure, they can be poorly designed for modern living. This house has been designed with every modern comfort in mind including a heat recovery ventilation system, central vacuum, underfloor heating and a utility room on the first floor with drying rails. Rooms can easily be adapted for different functions too.

There is parking out front for one car.