Small footprint, big impact in a smart Ballsbridge two-bed for €850,000

The couple who own a two-bed in a hidden enclave not far from the Aviva Stadium gutted it 13 years go when they moved in.

They asked EMD Architects to provide plenty of light in their new home: now, with floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors in a double-height extension, an open plan downstairs floored with pale porcelain tiles and walls painted in Farrow & Ball’s Cornforth White, it’s a very bright modern house in walk-in condition.

The house, built in 1932, has traces of the original, with small white-painted cast-iron fireplaces in the bedrooms, but effectively it’s a new house, with two bedrooms where there were three.

Number 69 Lansdowne Park, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, a 103sq m (1,109sq ft) semi-detached two-bed, is for sale through Sherry FitzGerald for €850,000.

The house feels spacious, in spite of its modest size. The front door opens into a small lobby from where a glass door opens into the nearly completely open-plan downstairs, consisting of an L-shaped kitchen/dining room/living room.

The Timbercraft kitchen on the right has glossy grey units; a large table that seats eight is in the middle of the space, next to glass display shelves.

The living room is a large uncluttered space with a sandstone gas fireplace and cupboards that conceal a hot press and storage. The seating area is in the double-height extension, with rain-sensor Velux roof windows. The two sets of sliding glass doors in the corner open to the small back yard.

Double glass doors at the opposite side of the living room open into a small carpeted sitting room which one of the owners calls her snug. It has built-in shelving beside a sandstone fireplace.

Upstairs, a small family bathroom has a large shower and part tongue-and-groove timber-panelled walls. Both bedrooms are doubles with good storage in built-in wardrobes.

In the main bedroom, there’s a built-in dressing table in one corner. The whole house is meticulously neat: one of the owners worked as an accommodation manager in five-star hotels.

Number 69 is well insulated, say the owners, with heating needed only for about one and a half hours a night. It was also hard-wired for internet during the revamp, which means there are no cables visible. The Ber is C2.

The small L-shaped back yard has high walls; it backs on to a lane behind which is the back of the National Print Museum at Beggars Bush, on Haddington Road. There is side access from the small front garden, where there’s room to park one car.

Lansdowne Park is an enclave with many houses – some old, some more recently built – sandwiched between Shelbourne Road, Haddington Road and Northumberland Road, with a bewildering house numbering system. Number 69 is on the part of Lansdowne Park close to Haddington Road, with Ryan’s Beggars Bush pub a short walk away.