Writers' homes full of literary memories

26 Charleston Ave/€1.6m: Two homes on the same street in Ranelagh, both full of writers' memories: Kate McMorrow finds out why Nuala O'Faolain is leaving her neighbourhood and looks at the home where late writer/editor Kate Cruise O'Brien lived and worked

A Ranelagh house where a thousand stories were told and literary reputations established could tempt aspiring authors to continue the connection with books and writing. Marian Keyes, Cathy Kelly, Sheila O'Flanagan were among best-selling writers who brainstormed at the kitchen table with former Poolbeg literary editor Kate Cruise O'Brien. It was also the principal inspiration for the heroine's house in O'Brien's own novel, The Homesick Garden.

When Kate first set eyes on 26 Charleston Avenue in 1976, she decided she was going to spend the rest of her life there says her widower Joe Kearney, who is moving on after almost 30 years in the house. Her untimely death aged 49 in 1998 fulfilled that prophesy, he adds. "Back in the 1970s Ranelagh was still flatland and eating out was done at the Pronto Grill, now transformed into Tribeca. The previous owner had been here since 1928 - we are the third owners since it was built in the 1890s."

HOK Residential is expecting 26 Charleston Avenue to fetch €1.6 million at auction on September 28th. This is one of those Ranelagh cul-de-sacs where the traffic noise is muted by mature greenery and the houses seem untouched by the passing of the years.

Number 26, a 172sq m (1,852sq ft) house, has three/four bedrooms and a gracious upstairs drawingroom. While new owners will need to spend money upgrading and adapting the interior to present day requirements, there is a certain magic about a house that has escaped the almost mandatory pre-sale makeover.

Stained glass window panes and pretty fireplaces are as they were in the 1890s, apart from gas fire inserts which can be removed once a central heating system is installed.

Thick panelled doors have their original brass handles. A screen of mature greenery which could do with a cutback hides the house from the road. An ancient wisteria over the front door makes a fine show in early summer.

Original varnished quarry tiles lead the eye down the hall to the kitchen where Kate did much of her editing work. "Kate had an office at Poolbeg but it was often easier to meet people here. Everyone gravitated to this space. Writers are the most stubborn of people and this room helped, although 'eyeball to eyeball' work took place in the diningroom," remembers Joe.

Like the rest of the house, the kitchen is painted in faded yellow ochre tones. Open units are pine and the cast-iron fireplace is painted with flowers.

A small conservatory leads out to a sheltered garden. To the left off the front hall is a sittingroom with black-painted floorboards, a fireplace and walk-in cupboard. Across the hall is a dual-aspect diningroom with a French door opening to the garden. The drawingroom is still off the upstairs landing, although new owners will probably use this as a main bedroom.

Two large windows add plenty of natural light and the corners of the ceiling coving have been painted gold. Next door is the main bedroom, the largest room in the house. A smaller double room with fireplace has access to the attic, which could be converted. Also looking over the back garden is Kate Cruise O'Brien's former study, lined with bookshelves. The bathroom has a tiny flower-painted fireplace.

3 Charleston Ave/€1.2m: The "somebody" who buys writer and journalist Nuala O'Faolain's house on Charleston Avenue, Ranelagh, will inherit a host of literary memories along with the bricks and mortar.

Sherry FitzGerald is quoting an AMV of €1.2 million prior to auction on September 19th for number 3, a redbrick on the side of the road which has south-facing back gardens. The 125sq m (1,342sq ft) interior encompasses bright family-friendly living space, a downstairs toilet, two large bedrooms, a bathroom and dressingroom which could be a third bedroom.

When she bought the house 17 years ago, it hadn't been touched for decades, says Nuala, who spends much of the year in her Co Clare cottage. The author of internationally bestselling memior Are You Somebody is currently working on her second novel.

"I had everything to do, the garden, putting in bookshelves and turning one of the bedrooms into a bathroom and dressingroom. But I loved the house, halfway between Ranelagh and Rathmines, with nothing missing for perfect urban life.

"I got an offer recently from a developer and turned it down. I'd rather it was used by a family who will visit the farmers' market." A neat box-hedge knot garden makes the most of the small front space typical of all the houses on this road. Through the front door, the hall is lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Polished wood floorboards continue into the front sittingroom, which has an original cast-iron fireplace and built-in desk

Ceiling cornicing and picture rails around the house complement the tall ceilings. New owners will have some work still to do, such as replacing original sash windows with good replicas. Beyond the central staircase is a family living area with sittingroom, dining area and adjoining kitchen opening out to a flagged terrace and the garden. An old black-leaded solid fuel stove emblazoned with its name The D'Olier made her fall in love with the house, says Nuala O'Faolain, who was writing for The Irish Times at the time.

A glass-roofed lobby links into the long narrow kitchen which has three windows looking out to the garden. Immediately outside the sitting area is a flagged terrace and secluded landscaped garden.

Upstairs, the main bedroom overlooking the back garden is next door to the bathroom and walk-in dressingroom. The huge front room with double windows has another period fireplace.

Stairs run up to a half landing which others on the avenue have extended to provide another bathroom.

Is this the end of her Ranelagh sojourn for O'Faolain? Hopefully not, she says. "There comes a point when a house needs tender loving care and I feel guilty not being able to do this while in Clare. I have a new pup and Dublin is useless for that. I'd love to buy a little place in Dublin and a tiny studio apartment in New York. I was born in Dublin and I'll have a nervous breakdown not having somewhere to sleep there anymore.

"A tiny apartment in an old house looking out on a few trees would be perfect . . . somewhere I can lock up and leave, but not in a bleak apartment block. "