A D4 redbrick on sale for the first time since it was built in 1936 is likely to make over its modest guide, says Orna Mulcahy, Property Editor.
There hasn't been a house on the open market on Ailesbury Road in Ballsbridge all year, though at least one estate agent has concluded a private sale on the road: a semi-detached redbrick that is thought to have made between €6.5 million and €8 million.
Now however, comes an opportunity to buy an Ailesbury house that has never been on the market. Number 56 is a three-storey pre-War house that was built by the current owners' parents in 1936 and has remained in the family ever since. Now it is set for auction through Douglas Newman God on October XXXX Sales director Keith Lowe is guiding €2.7 million but given the demand for houses in the neighbourhood it is likely to make substantially more. Recently a house of a similar vintage on Greenfield Crescent, Donnybrook, changed hands privately for around €3.5 million and it's reasonable to suggest that Ailesbury Road is the better address.
Number 56 stands on a third of an acre of garden close to the junction with Ailesbury Drive where, last week, Douglas Newman Good fetched a price believed to be close to €1.5 million prior to auction for a modern semi-detached house at 2 Straide Drive.
Set back from the road with a large front garden, 56 is a good sized family house of around 2,500 sq ft with plenty of space to extend. It's a rather bland featureless house inside, but this may be a plus with buyers who expect to do a big renovation job, regardless of how they find a property.
The layout is uncomplicated with a large reception room on either side of the hallway, one of which has a vintage tiled fireplace. The other, the original diningroom leads through to a utility room that opens through to the kitchen at the back of the house. Refitted in recent years, it's a pleasantly bright room with a good range of units. Off the kitchen is a corridor with access to the garage, a boiler room an toilet. This entire area is likely to be redeveloped.
A third reception room leading off the hallway completes the ground floor layout. Upstairs, there are four generous double bedrooms on the first floor, one of which has a large ensuite bathroom, while a second has a concealed shower room. The other bedrooms share a small family bathroom with original fittings. A further flight of stairs leads to the attic level where there is a fifth bedroom whose high dormer window gives a birds eye view of the neighbourhood.
The 100 ft back garden is mostly in lawn with borders stocked with mature trees including fruit trees. While this is not the sunny side of the road, it's a big enough garden to have sun on it somewhere throughout the day.
For a virtual tour of this property click on www.nicemove.ie
