Elayne and Briain Morris lived in Toronto for eight years — but like many young émigrés, they dreamed of coming home. She is from Dunshaughlin, he’s from Donnybrook, but like many of their friends living abroad, they wanted to move back to somewhere near the Irish coast.
So when they saw the house on Tivoli Road in Dún Laoghaire for sale three years ago, they moved back and bought it. Built in the 1990s, the detached house is in easy walking distance of the centre of Dún Laoghaire and the seafront.
They paid €810,000 for the property, a 177 sq m (1,905 sq ft) detached four-bed, and spent about €200,000 on a full renovation and are on the move again — they are buying a period home even closer to the sea in Sandycove.
The renovation of number 11 Tivoli Road included putting in new heating, wiring, plumbing‚ insulation and triple-glazed windows — it has a B3 Ber rating. Their focus was on creating a new kitchen/diningroom. It’s a streamlined space with a large island at the centre — both the island and countertops are topped with Calacatta stone, a pale marbled quartz.
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Like much of the ground floor, it is floored with Junckers solid oak. The units, including two dishwashers, a pull-out pantry and a drinks cabinet, are concealed behind white painted doors. The dining area is at the end of the kitchen, next to floor-to-ceiling glazed doors which open into the garden.
On the right of the kitchen, through glass doors, is the bright livingroom, with a vaulted ceiling with Velux windows looking on to the back garden. A smaller cosy family room is off the kitchen at the front of the house.
The front door, with stained glass panels, opens into the double height, slightly angled front hall, with a galleried landing looking down into it. There is a neat utility room at its right next to a bedroom, which has been used as a study, looking into the front garden. There is also a downstairs toilet here.
Upstairs there are three bedrooms: they are bright and airy, with triple-glazed windows: two share a Jack-and-Jill en suite. The main bedroom is like a separate suite with its own fully-tiled en suite and a walk-in closet.
Outside, the back garden is quite private, sheltered by high stone walls. It is laid out mostly in lawn, with two patio areas and a small patch of artificial lawn. There is room to park several cars in the tarmacked front garden: it’s sheltered from the busy Tivoli Road by a wall and a high electronic gate.
There is also a convenient private parking space between the pavement and the front wall. Number 11 Tivoli Road is for sale through Lisney for €1.1 million.
