A modern glass extension has been added to this handsome renovated period villa since it was last sold eight years ago , writes FRANCES O'ROURKE
THE handsome front of a semi-detached 19th-century villa in Blackrock, Co Dublin, conceals a smart modern home where a striking glass box extension at the back sits comfortably next to the renovated original part of the house.
Decorated throughout in neutral creams and whites, with occasional splashes of colour, it’s a bright home in walk-in condition.
Number 2 Grove Avenue is for sale through Sherry FitzGerald for €1.45 million – interestingly, the same guide price it had when it went to auction eight years ago, before the extension was built. (It was withdrawn and sold later apparently for closer to €2 million).
Most of the renovation had been done then, but all the bathrooms have been upgraded recently by the owners, who live abroad. The extension was only built in 2008, and designed by NBK Architects.
The villa is one of those wide, upside-down houses like those on nearby Waltham Terrace; number 2, however, is just one of two on Grove Avenue, a street about halfway Mount Merrion Avenue, between Blackrock and the N11.
They are wide but shallow houses: steps lead up from a large gravelled front garden – with parking for at least four cars – to the front door.
Two medium-sized reception rooms open off the front hall: to the right, a sittingroom, to the left, a room used as a study.
Both of them have original polished floors, tall sash windows, ceiling roses and large marble fireplaces.
Up a short flight of stairs are three bedrooms (two doubles and a single) ranged across the back of the house: the main bedroom has a fully-tiled cream coloured en suite with a huge walk-in shower.
A circular stained glass porthole window over double sinks adds a splash of colour to the family bathroom. A short flight of stairs down from the front hall is where everything turns modern: the wide, open-plan kitchen/diningroom is still in the original part of the house, but it has been completely modernised.
At one side is the SieMatic kitchen, with a granite topped island and a large American-style fridge; at the other is a table that seats 10. The space is floored in cherrywood, and tiled at the kitchen end. A few steps down towards the front of the house off this space are two large double bedrooms and another bathroom.
The large lounge in the extension at the back of the house, which opens off the kitchen-diningroom, is all modern. There are glass walls on two sides (with remote-controlled electronic blinds providing privacy); underfloor heating; a bar in the corner; a large TV inset into the wall; and a sound system controlled from a cupboard in the corner.
Widesteps lead down into the lawned back garden, with its original stone walls. There’s a patio on one side; on the other, a small putting green.
