ALANNA GALLAGHER:WHEN DOES a house extension overwhelm a home? When it's bigger in size than the original property? In a part of Dublin where size really does matter, number 43 Downpatrick Road in Crumlin, Dublin 12, is a vastly extended two-up two-down. The end-of-terrace, four-bedroom house is on a large corner site in a quiet cul-de-sac off the Clogher Road.
From the front, this extension is hidden from view unless you’re standing outside the front door. Inside, it’s contemporary and spacious with all the storage required for family life.
Out back, it’s a different matter. The beefed-up house splices the rear, growing in size from the original 60sq m (645sq ft) to a gargantuan 154sq m (1,650sq ft). This dramatic extension, created by an architect and planner husband-and-wife team, earned the house a highly commended for best house extension in the RIAI’s 2008 awards.
Now for sale through agent Sherry FitzGerald, the dark fibre-cement clad house has an asking price of €525,000, which will test the local market.
So what do you get for your money? Two front doors and a lot of living space. In the extension there’s a study to the left of the front door with the kitchen-cum-diningroom set in what was the entire ground floor of the original property.
A large light-filled sittingroom, with an open fire and dual aspect glazing, bisects the original garden. One side looks onto a gravel and decked area. A raised bank of green lawn fills the view of the other window. There’s also a large utility area and fully tiled wet room.
A slick walnut staircase takes you upstairs to the main bedroom. This has its own en suite bathroom and lots of wardrobe space hidden behind a dividing wall. A roomy second double is also part of the extension. A super-bright landing with floor-to-ceiling windows takes you back into the original part of the house. The couple preserved the original staircase creating a strong sense of flow between the two floors of the house. It leads down to the original front door, the second of two front doors.
Upstairs, in the original part of the house, there is a good-sized double bedroom and another box room or nursery as well as a tiled family bathroom. The extension has underfloor heating throughout its two floors, which runs on a geo-thermal pump system.
In terms of context, number 43’s new scale is light years away from the traditional Crumlin home. It may be from a galaxy far, far away but it is not alone. The area has numerous properties on corner sites that have been extended to double and more their original size. But very few have opted for as extreme a makeover as number 43.
Maybe these owners are simply ahead of the curve in Crumlin. The recent sale of another ultra-modern, architect-designed property on nearby Saul Road shows an appetite for change. Despite its size, number 43 has no off-street parking.
