There’s nothing like living in an original period home to make you want to make changes. Dating from times when the well-heeled certainly never cooked their own meals, much less hung out in the kitchen, and when social life was more important than personal space, the original layout of dark basement kitchens, and public rooms on the upper floors doesn’t exactly reflect how we like to live today.
Nevertheless, the high ceilings, the gorgeous proportions, the lovely natural light, and the lovely bells and whistles: plaster moulding, carved wood, and elegant fireplaces; give period homes their undoubted attractions. At 31 Seapoint Avenue, which is for sale by private treaty through Lisney for €1.9 million, the owners have done most of the heavy lifting already, making this house one that is both ready to walk into, but with a little scope left for further improvement.
The owners have lived here for almost a decade, and in that time, rewired, replumbed and redecorated. They also moved a small poky staircase upstairs, to create a wide and generous landing for the four bedrooms, and a laundry room at the very top, that could also be a fifth bedroom. On the ground floor, in a clever move, the kitchen is now at the front of the house, so it makes the most of a lovely bay window, and is, as the owner says “where everyone in the family wants to work”. There’s a marble kitchen island, an Aga, parquet flooring and large larder cupboards.
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Steps lead down to a den – there’s also a pair of more formal rooms to the right – and out into the garden, laid in grass with a patio area. Going up, there’s a study off the return that is set into the corner of the house, so it has a dual aspect and is bright and sunny all day – “that’s where I hide,” says the owner.
The house is wider than many homes of this period, so there’s a great sense of space. And while everything here has been done or carefully maintained – to a very high standard on the upper floors – a large basement is still awaiting renovation, adding at least five extra rooms.
Although the family have loved living by the sea, and it’s just walking distance from the DART, Monkstown village and Blackrock, they are moving closer to the city centre as the children are growing up. “If I could pick the house up and move it with us, I would . . .” It’s easy to see why.
