Double-fronted villa-style house with modern interior

A double-fronted villa-style house on Albert Road in Sandycove, Co Dublin, looks from the outside like a period house. But behind the exterior are two very modern homes built in the early noughties, when the owner divided the original house vertically.

Architect Cormac Buggy gutted the interior of the Victorian house, building two new houses to modern standards over three levels behind the period front. Marine Villa is the house created on the right hand side of the original house, with an entrance from Marine Court, just around the corner. The 162sq m (1,750sq ft) three-bed is now for sale by private treaty through Vincent Finnegan for €995,000.

A pedestrian door and double electronic gates to the side open into a neat gravelled courtyard where there’s room for two cars and a small garden. A high wall separates the space from Kaelista, the other half of the pair of houses.

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Marine Villa, Marine Court, Sandycove, Co Dublin: modern three-bed in a subdivided Victorian house

Steep granite steps lead up to the front door: inside, the design is bright, clear and minimalist: oak floors (with underfloor heating) run through most of the house, there are many windows, both internal and external, walls are white and there’s lot of recessed lighting.

Wide double doors open into a diningroom and livingroom connected by wide glazed double doors: the large sash window in the livingroom – overlooking Albert Road – appears to be the only remaining feature of the original house.

A galley-style kitchen/ breakfastroom has a white-tiled floor, cream units, wooden countertops and seating built into a tall square bay window overlooking the garden.

French doors open off the hall on to a balcony adjacent to the kitchen, from where stairs lead down to the garden.

A short flight of stairs leads to a bright attic room, which could be a study or bedroom; it has lots of under-eaves storage. Another flight of stairs off the hall leads down to the bedrooms, two good-sized doubles, both en suite, and one small double.

There is a large green space in Marine Court, a cul-de-sac off Albert Road near the corner with Elton Park, in easy walking distance from both Sandycove and Glenageary Dart stations.

Kaelista, the other half of the divided house, fronts on to Albert Road and retains the original front door: it was put up for sale by Savills 15 months ago with a price tag of €1.245 million. It didn’t sell and has since been taken off the market.