Sleepy Hollow, number 5a Temple Villas, at the top end of Palmerston Road near Rathgar in Dublin, began life as a coachhouse for East Well, one of the grand, three-storey, redbrick homes overlooking Palmerston Park.
Long since separated, renovated and extended into a detached redbrick property in its own right, Sleepy Hollow was upgraded significantly in the early noughties and stands today as a high-spec, well maintained home.
"It's perfect for a well-heeled younger couple, or somebody downsizing from a more substantial property," says Pat Mullery of DNG, which has it on the market for €2.3 million.
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Sleepy Hollow has the look and feel of a stylish mews. A high redbrick wall, breached by electric gates for car access and a separate one for pedestrian access, delivers a large measure of privacy from Palmerston Road.
Inside, light pours in from all directions and what defines the interior layout is the generous proportions of all the rooms – including even the downstairs loo off the hall, the pantry off the John Daly kitchen and the walk-in wardrobe in the master bedroom.
Generous scale
Main entrance door sidelights and an adjoining large window make the wide hall a room in its own right. The floor is covered by cream, marble tiles and the double-height ceiling gives an immediate impression of generous scale.
A gently curving stairway leads up and, beneath it, there is ample space for a desk and chair.
To the left is a large, square, timber-floored dining room, with views over the front garden and French windows to the side garden, whose walls of granite rubble are characteristic of the area. Internal bevelled glass doors connect to the lounge, which has its own French windows to the side garden and a gas fire set in a rather grand, grey and white marble fire surround with slate hearth.
From here, or alternatively accessed directly from the hall, is the kitchen-cum-breakfast room, where fittings – marble-topped island with double sink, marble-topped work counter, fitted fridge-freezer, wine cooler and cupboards aplenty – suggest someone sank a lot into getting everything there just right.
French windows from the kitchen open onto a small, rear, pea shingle, fern and bamboo suntrap courtyard, with a handy doorway to the service lane off Palmerston Gardens serving those grand homes overlooking the park.
Good views
Upstairs are three double bedrooms, one, the master, being substantial, with that walk-in wardrobe and matching very generous-sized bathroom. A main bathroom serves the other two bedrooms and all three are, like the rest of the house, well served by windows with good views.
The overall impression of Sleepy Hollow is of a mature, airy home with all mod-cons that sits comfortably alongside the older properties surrounding it.
The property, which is 200sq m (2,155sq ft) in size, last changed hands in 2013 for €2.019 million and before that, in 2007 for €3.15 million.
