Substance with surprises

Clontarf €945,000:No effort has been spared turning this period home into a light-filled, innovative and contemporary space which retains many of its best features

NUMBER 36 St Lawrence Road in Clontarf , Dublin 3 is one of the terraced houses on this road, but an excavated basement, big kitchen extension and converted attic have made it a substantial family home.

DNG is asking €945,000 for the four-bedroom house, which comes with a few surprises.

The first of these is located in the kitchen. What appears to be a large mat on the glossy cream kitchen floor is actually the cover for an automated trap door.

Press a button and the trap door opens to reveal stone steps down to a double bedroom with a window and an ensuite bathroom-cum-utility room. You can control the trap door from the basement as well, but need to shout up before opening it to make sure nobody is standing on it upstairs.

The kitchen-cum-diningroom, which has been extended to the rear and side, is bright, airy and contemporary without being soulless. The exposed yellow brick walls gives it warmth and character – the brick was reclaimed from a shed in the garden that was demolished.

The wood-panelled pitched ceilings could have been overkill along with the yellow brick, but the ceiling height and vanilla gloss fitted kitchen balance out the overall look.

The partially glazed roof in the dining area and velux windows in the kitchen area keep this part of the house bright.

Steps lead from the kitchen up to a cosy family room in the original part of the house. There’s also a front drawing room with a bay window, wide plank walnut floors and a green flecked marble original fireplace which has vivid yellow and green tiles. The fireplaces, most of which are original, are a lovely feature of the house.

The owners installed cream wall panelling on the hall, stairs and landing and there’s a dramatic droplet crystal light fitting hanging on the stairwell.

The next surprise is on the first floor return, where walnut mirrored doors slide back to reveal a luxurious bathroom.

Tiled with the highest quality marble, it has a roll-top bath, a double shower with multiple shower heads and his and hers basins mounted on a wooden washstand. This room was once no less than a bedroom with small toilet and bathroom.

Upstairs on the main landing the box room was knocked into the front bedroom to make the main bedroom, which has a bay window and cornicing made from a mould of the original cornicing. A second double bedroom at this level has a feature wall covered with floral wallpaper and another original fireplace. Upstairs, the converted attic is used as a bedroom and has its own toilet and sink. The rear garden is still a good size despite the big extension, and is partly patio with raised flower beds and a central area which is actually the roof of the basement. A new owner might want to pave over this section.

At the end of the garden there’s a large and very attractive-looking Cavan-stone built two-storey shed that doubles as a garage. A roller shutter door opens out to the lane behind where you can bring the car in.

Number 36 Lawrence’s Road is on open view Saturday from noon to 1pm.

Number 36 St Lawrence Road, Clontarf, Dublin 3

Terraced, extended, period four-bed

Agent: DNG