Ballsbridge house back on market for €2m after high-tech refurb

In the heart of embassy land in Ballsbridge,Dublin, the houses of Merrion Road have a solid appeal. The presence of the Intercontinental Hotel (formerly Four Seasons), the British embassy and the RDS conspire to let you know you're in a certain kind of good company.

Number 92, part of a pair of Tudor-style homes located opposite Simmonscourt, has stood for just over 100 years, but more recently has been completely gutted, “taken back to the brick,” as the owner says, and fitted out for the 21st century.

The owner, a structural engineer, bought the house in early 2016, for just over €1 million, it having previously been withdrawn from the market at €1.195 million in 2015. “Yes,” the owner says ruefully, “ it probably was in worse condition than we thought.”

Still, that level of necessary refurbishment means that he is bringing a house back to the market that has been practically rebuilt. The 284sq m (3,052sq ft) house now has Geocell insulation, underfloor heating, triple-glazed windows to the front (double at the rear), more en suites than you could shake a stick at, and wiring for every eventuality.

Electric gates

You can open your electric gates by phone, so your off-street parking – at an absolute premium in this neck of the woods – is completely safe. There are security cameras, and a Heat Miser system that means you can turn your water on from anywhere, reset your heating, or, for lovers of the 1944 film Gaslight, mess with your partner's head by adjusting things at a distance.

With six bedrooms over three levels, one of which is a seriously fancy suite, you’ve lots of space. Downstairs the large hallway leads to a drawingroom, and then through to a lounge that opens on to a very big dining area/kitchen.

At 284sq m (3,052sq ft), the house has been done to a standard that suggests it could well end up as a corporate buy. One of the incoming executives from JP Morgan, perhaps? It’ll cost them, or you, €2 million with Sherry FitzGerald.