Hidden coachhouse on chic Monkstown strip for €845k

A converted coachhouse at one of south Dublin’s trendiest addresses comes as something of a surprise.

A stylish three-bed house is mostly hidden behind a high gate on Monkstown Crescent, next door to Howbert & Mays garden centre, a few doors down from Cinnamon restaurant.

The owner revamped the space – once a coachhouse behind Longford Terrace – in 2012 and lived there until recently, moving out to accommodate a growing family.

Using reclaimed materials – a dark wood timber floor, slate from a school in Cabra – he has fashioned a very cool rustic-chic property that combines a smart modern fit-out with rough whitewashed walls – cleaned and repainted – and timber beams (bought in the North, originally from a barn in Kansas).

The external walls have been insulated and the house has a B3 energy rating.

Extending to 151sq m (1,625sq ft) this terraced house is for sale through Janet Carroll for €845,000.

The large gate opens to reveal a very private slate-floored courtyard with a raised wooden flower bed (with seating) and a small decked barbecue area. French windows on two sides open into the courtyard, and the front door opens into a porch with glazed walls and ceiling.

Double doors open from here into the wide open-plan living/dining/kitchen area: French windows at the livingroom end open into the courtyard; a sliding barn door outside can be pulled across the doors if needed.

Multi-fuel stove

There’s a multi-fuel stove in the living/dining room and at the other end is the smart modern kitchen with room for a Rangemaster and a large American fridge.

A “lip” behind the polished black granite countertop conceals kitchen clutter from the living/diningroom.

There are two arched windows in the back wall and a door opening into a very narrow space at the back that runs the width of the house. This can be used for some storage; there’s also a storage shed in the front courtyard.

A timber-floored room next to the front porch which has French windows opening into the courtyard could be a bedroom, office or den suggests the agent. There’s also a smart shower room – where the bathroom sink sits on a slab of slate – downstairs.

An open-tread timber staircase leads up to two double bedrooms, both en suite, both with reclaimed timber floors.

The main bedroom is large, with a kind of sitting room space leading into it; there’s a step down to the bedroom, which has French windows opening onto a Juliet balcony overlooking the courtyard. The washhand basin sits on an old Singer sewing machine frame in an en suite with a large tiled shower.

There’s room to park one car in the front courtyard, and residents’ on street parking – and the owners can park in front of their own gate on always-busy Monkstown Crescent. But there’s little need for a car, with restaurants, pubs, shops and Salthill Dart station on the doorstep.