George Bernard Shaw was born in Synge Street in 1856, and spent a famously unhappy childhood there. "Rich only in dreams, frightful and loveless in reality" was how he described it. A life lived in today's Synge Street might provide him with a brighter reality, however, especially if the original Shaw family home were to take on the subdued flair and easy living style of its next door neighbour, Number 32 Synge Street.
Built in the 1830s, making it some 185 years old, Number 32 has a wonderfully cool bravura that nicely catches its period while accommodating comfortable functionality. Khaki, in various shades, is the colour of choice (together with white), wood everywhere (floors, banisters, stair treads, furniture) is dark and darkly polished, windows are original but insulated, original plasterwork is preserved, fireplaces and their gorgeous tiles restored.
All of this happened under the supervisory eye of a conservation architect. There is no clutter, no distraction from clean good looks. William Morris’s golden rule about having nothing in our houses we “do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful” fits nicely.
Close community
Agent Owen Reilly is seeking €950,000 for the house with a floor space of 147sq m (1,582sq ft). The vendors have lived there since 2003, enjoyed the Synge Street street-party every July, and the pleasures of a close community.
Long panelled double doors between the formal reception rooms fold back. A black marble fireplace in the drawingroom has fruit motif tiles, plasterwork is simple.
The hallway has an arch midway, fine ceiling rose, front door fanlight and dark khaki walls. An 8ft high arched window on the turn of the stairs is a highlight in every way; handsome to look at and throwing its light over everything.
A family bathroom on the lower return is a definite talking-point. It has a free-standing bath and sash window overlooking ivy creeping over the wall from the next-door Shaw house.
The garden level kitchen/family area has parquet flooring, any amount of storage and French windows from its dining area to the east-facing garden where 14ft high original brick boundary walls ensure privacy.
Sash windows
The main bedroom, to the front on the first floor, takes up the width of the house and has two sash windows. A cast-iron fireplace has exquisite inset tiles and the discreet en suite has dark wood fittings. A second, rear bedroom has garden views and built-in wardrobes. The third bedroom, a double, is to the front at garden level.
Agent Owen Reilly says prices in the area have been strong of late. An end-of-terrace in Grantham Street (totally refurbished) sold for over €1 million earlier in the year, while a “wreck” in eight flats on the South Circular Road sold recently for €800,000.
