Dublin 6: A listed Regency villa with a large garden on Oakley Road is on the market for €1.5m. Kate McMorrow reports.
The opportunity to end up with a fine period house on one of Ranelagh's best avenues will encourage adventurous buyers to view a detached house in distressed condition on Oakley Road.
The listed Regency villa is on over half an acre of garden - a rare find in Dublin 6 - with 297 sq m (3,200 sq ft) of living space. Turley & Associates has taken the unusual step of selling number 23 by tender, guiding €1.5 million.
The owners paid around the same price over four years ago for the house and it has taken this time to obtain full planning permission for a complete restoration job. Their children by now established in schools elsewhere, they have decided to pass on their dream of bringing the house back to its original condition to a like-minded buyer.
Because it is listed, restoration will be the only immediate option for buyers, although the huge south-west facing back garden might attract a builder interested in long-term development potential. Pedestrian rear access onto Beechwood Park could facilitate a mews, subject to planning.
The house was built as a summer residence for one of the wealthy merchants living in Merrion. Positioned at the quieter Dunville Avenue end of the road near Morton's famous store, the imposing pillared entrance to number 23 is more like that of a country mansion than a Ranelagh villa. A drive and short flight of granite steps run to a typical arched front doorway.
Allowing for the smallest detail, the restoration work on the house is likely to cost about €750,000, according to estimates provided by the owners' architect. The current planning provides for a substantial four-bedroom family home, including large en suite bathrooms and a dressingroom off the main bedroom.
Everything needs to be done, down to replacing fireplaces and cornicing damaged or lost during the years when the house lay empty. The grounds present another: taking up part of the 200-ft garden is a large detached building which was used as a work studio by a former owner, a stained glass artist. Not used for some years, this has also fallen into disrepair, although commercial rates are up to date, says the owner.
