Number 48 Gulistan Cottages comes with a high price tag, asking €425,000, or just under €627 per square foot for the 678sq ft (63sq m) one-bedroom property. Its great location, however, in a quiet enclave a five-minute walk from Rathmines village, goes some way to justifying the price.
The cottage could be a more attractive option for buyers comparing it with apartments of a similar size and price in the city and its surrounding suburbs, as it has the benefit of its own front door. From the point of view of cost, the buyer of this Rathmines cottage won’t be hit by the often-costly annual management fees that come with apartment ownership or indeed the rules associated with living in an apartment complex, where one’s ownership is limited to a leasehold interest.
This would be a great central place to live, within walking distance from the city’s hot spots, if you could afford to buy it on your own or possibly with a partner, depending on your patience level in close quarters.
Halfway between Rathmines and Ranelagh, Gulistan Cottages, off Upper Mountpleasant Avenue, date from the 1880s, when they were built for firemen in Rathmines station and their families. In more recent years they have become popular with architect owners looking to transform them with space-saving solutions. One of the cottages was named RTÉ's Home of the Year in 2021. A refurbishment carried out before owner Jenny Anderson bought number 48 in 2017 – for €430,000, according to the Property Price Register – has made it into a bright, contemporary space.
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You enter this home, at the end of the terrace, into the living area of the open-plan ground floor. A white shelving unit built under the stairs to the bedroom in the attic conversion makes good use of the available space in the living area for display and storage, with light hardwood floors underfoot. Beyond that is the modern kitchen with blue-grey units and chrome handles; there is limited space for a dining table, and Anderson has opted for a neat two-seater. Over the table, where the ceiling is higher, are three hanging light fixtures; recessed lighting is used in the rest of the room.
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The kitchen opens on to the back courtyard, which has wooden decking and a shed to the right to house the washing machine and the dryer; there is side access to the street from here.
In the wall opposite the kitchen is a press Anderson calls the “Monica cupboard” after the Friends character who hid the mess from her otherwise immaculate apartment behind one door. Behind the same wall, to the left of the entrance, is a WC and a small room (3.31m x 1.68m) which could be used as a storage space or could possibly fit a desk under the window to be used as a home office.
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Upstairs, within the converted attic space, is the double bedroom with a strip of four windows above the head of the bed providing views of the Rathmines town hall clock tower. There is a storage unit built under the eaves beside the bed as well as deep built-in wardrobes blocking the level from the one below, although there is no wall to separate it. The en suite off the bedroom has a bath built under the slope of the roof with a Velux window.
Anderson loved the lifestyle this own-door home in the heart of Rathmines offered her before she moved to London. The C-rated cottage is now on the market through Sherry FitzGerald.
