A large Victorian redbrick at Belgrave Square, Monkstown, Co Dublin, could set a record price for the square when it is auctioned by Ganly Walters next month.
Number 43, a three-storey over basement house, has a guide price of £600,000 - but given the IAVI's code of allowing guide prices to hover 10-15 per cent below the expected selling price, it is more likely to fetch in excess of £650,000. Part of a terrace on the west side of the square, Number 43 is a substantial residence with over 5,000 sq ft of living space and a self-contained two-bedroom flat at basement level. There is a small but sunny back garden. The house is owned by wine and food writer Tom Doorley and his wife, Joanne, who have lived there since 1988. Previously, the house had been divided into several flats and was in poor condition but many of its original features had survived.
The Doorleys carried out extensive refurbishment work and also decorated some of the rooms. However, while the house now appears to be in good structural order, it would benefit from complete redecoration. Wide steps lead up to the double front door, which opens into a long hallway running from the front to the back of the house. The Doorleys describe it as a great house for a party, and certainly there is plenty of space to entertain with two lofty reception rooms at hall level, and a handsome drawing-room and dining-room on the first floor. At hall level, the original front room with its two tall sash windows looking out on the square is currently partitioned but could easily be restored. A second reception room has an enormous window overlooking the back garden. There is a small bathroom on this floor and beyond it a spacious room that has a door leading to the garden.
An impressive staircase rises to the first floor past a kitchen and bathroom on the return. The drawing-room runs right across the front of the house with a terrific view over the square towards Dun Laoghaire harbour and town. This is a stunning room with deep red walls and a fine white marble fireplace. A window alcove lends a turret-like effect to the room, while the space is highlighted by original floor to ceiling mirrors on two walls. Next to this room is the family dining-room. The first of the bedrooms is on the second return and there is a small bathroom next door. The top floor has two more bedrooms. One of these is a very large room, mirroring the drawing-room below, that is partitioned to allow for a study at one end and a double bedroom at the other. The study has a window alcove with a clear view across the roofs of the square's houses to the sea. The basement flat has two bedrooms, a bathroom, kitchen and a large sitting-room that was once the kitchen and still has an old flagged floor. The staircase between the basement and hall levels has been removed.
Belgrave Square is a pleasant Victorian square with 1.5 acres of communal garden. The garden was at the centre of a dispute last year when it was offered for sale by tender over the heads of the residents.
It was purchased by a Meath property developer who subsequently sold it on to the residents at a significant profit. Ownership of the gardens is now shared between the residents, who paid £8,000 each for the privilege.
Prices have risen steeply on Belgrave Square in the last two years. Last October, Number 13, a terraced stucco fronted house on the north side of the square, fetched close to £650,000 prior to auction through the Lisney agency. The same agents sold it under the hammer in October, 1997, for £515,000.
