DÚN LAOGHAIRE: €1.35MNineteenth-century elegance meets modern, effective design in this south Co Dublin gem, writes ROSE DOYLE

SET back from the road by 30m (100ft) of delightful garden, 1 Rus in Urbe, Lower Glenageary Road, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin, gives a real sense of how it must have looked when it was first built in 1840.

A lush magnolia tree helps sets the scene but the house itself – painted white and double-fronted, with long sash windows and a couple of granite steps to a heavy old door – is the finishing touch.

The first of four houses in a terrace of the same name, 1 Rus in Urbe (a Latin phrase meaning “country in the city”), retains a lot of its 19th-century interior appeal.

The house needed work when the vendors bought it 15 years ago: they immediately set about a careful and effective refurbishment.

A light-filled extension added six years ago increased the floor area to 228sq m (2,455sq ft) and gave 1 Rus in Urbe an open-plan living area to the rear.

With two reception rooms, three bedrooms and a family/diningroom/kitchen overlooking a 23m (75ft) landscaped rear garden, 1 Rus in Urbe is on the market through Savills with an asking price of €1.35m.

You get a good sense of the pedigree of the house, both traditional and contemporary, from the entrance hallway, with its high ceilings and the vista it presents of the open-plan diningroom/kitchen and a wall of glass that overlooks the rear garden.

Half-a-dozen Velux windows ensure the latter area gets all and any light possible, while a combination of stainless-steel worktops, glass shelving and a clever mirror over the sink maximizes its effect.

The quintessentially 19th-century drawingroom has a finely detailed marble fireplace (with inset Scan Anderson stove) and a sash window overlooking the front garden’s magnolia tree.

Shutters add a nice touch to the high door (once a window) leading to the family area.

The main bedroom, off the first-floor landing, has a charm similar to the drawing room, with sash windows giving views of the front and rear gardens, lemon-coloured walls and bookshelves.

A second bedroom off this landing faces the front, while the third, en suite bedroom is on the return.

The family bathroom is a large, blue and white room with a freestanding bath, separate shower, sash window and a linen room leading off.

There is rear, vehicular access to parking and a small plot of land – some 4x6m (14x20ft) – next to this, which also belongs to 1 Rus in Urbe.

1 Rus in Urbe, Lower Glenageary Road, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin

Three-bedroomed family home built in 1840

Agent: Savills