Bigger, better, brighter: four great extensions

Gordon Street is in the heart of Googletown, the part of Dublin 4 and 2 that straddles Grand Canal Dock and is home to Google, Facebook and Twitter.

Number 43 is the first of the single-storey cottages in the street and sits mid terrace adjacent to the rest of the street, which is laid out in two-storey red-brick terraced houses.

The cottage, which would have originally been described as bijou,was renovated in 2011 with a surprisingly roomy two-storey extension added to the rear by Patrick Lynch of House 7 Architects. The property now measures 69sq m (745 sq ft). It is for sale at €380,000 through Sherry FitzGerald.

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The front door opens directly into the sitting room, an oak-floored small space that overlooks the street.

Steps lead down to the large and light-filled eat-in kitchen which includes a sizeable island and glazing that overlooks the tiny yard to the rear that has been softened with by bamboo planting.

The rear is west-facing but high walls and high-rise development mean it gets little direct sun.

The kitchen benefits from the aspect and is light-filled.

Relative to the size of the house there is a good-size utility/storage room under the stairs. The family bathroom, which has a mechanical vent, is beside the kitchen.

Upstairs are two neat-sized double bedrooms overlooking the rear. The main has a shower en suite.

Neither has built-in storage of any note. Instead a storage room with a roof light set under the eaves to the front of the house has built-in wardrobes that facilitate both rooms. The storage room is also home to a mezzanine bed. A window would really transform this space.

Kevin Hughes, a consultant with Hughes Planning Development, believes there is a “reasonably good” chance the next owner will get planning to install a conservation-area friendlier Velux window, that sits flush with the roof tiles rather than protruding.

Number 32, a two-bedroom, two-storey, end-of-terrace house, sold in April 2012 for €165,000; 39 sold for €185,000 that December and 1 Gordon Street, an end-of-terrace, single-storey artisan cottage in need of refurbishment has gone sale agreed through Owen Reilly. It had a price of €190,000.