Immortalised in verse and song, Raglan Road is a gorgeous place to live. The tree-lined avenue may not be quite as grand as Wellington Road, which it runs parallel to, but it is equally quiet, suburban even, and yet is just a few minutes walk from bars, shops, restaurants and even games and gigs at Lansdowne Road.
Number 1 is a mid-Victorian end terrace that was built by the Pembroke Estate in the mid nineteenth century and has been a family home for over 40 years since the current owners bought it in 1985.
To them, the key attractions of the property included its proximity to town, the fact that the garden level had a separate entrance and could be used as a proper home office – one with space for a board room and library – and the gorgeous, square-shaped and private west-facing back garden to the rear.
Set almost 20 metres back from the road on an east/west axis with mature lime trees and a 150-year old turkey oak to the front, the redbrick features Dublin wigging pointing, a traditional technique that is the capital’s take on tuck pointing, a technique devised to conceal inconsistencies in the hand-made bricks.
The house has plenty of period charm with fine plasterwork and a smart arched window in the outer hall. Framed in original ruby glass panels the central part features a work by Alan Tomlin of Irish Stained Glass, commissioned by the owners when they moved in.
They also reconfigured the layout, moving the kitchen down from the first floor to hall level, a smart move for the eat-in space now overlooks the gorgeous square-shaped west-facing garden to the rear. The next owner might try and get planning to change the window to a set of double doors and extend the small terrace that is off the guest toilet at this level to give outside access from the kitchen. The formal dining room is adjacent and set to the front where it is washed in light by a pair of large timber sash windows. Ceiling heights here are 3.3 metres high.
Up on the first floor is the main drawing room, a mirror image of the dining room below and perfectly proportioned for everyday use. It has a marble fireplace, like the room below.
The main bedroom is also at this level and has an ensuite bathroom with a separate shower and bath, installed by a previous owner, an American woman who valued such modernities.
On the second floor there are three bedrooms, two of which share a jack and jill bathroom, with another shower room at the top of the house on the return. There are cracking views across the rooftops to the Dublin Mountains from these levels.
The self-contained office at garden level includes a boardroom, separate study, library, bathroom and kitchen, which opens out to a terracotta tiled terraces. This could become a self-contained unit.
Given its embassy belt location, the property may have consular appeal for there is scope to extend out to the side and back, subject to planning. But its real luxury here are its gardens and the ability to run a business or practice from one of its floors. The fine family home even has a school at the end of the street.
Extending to 394sq m / 4,240sq ft the Ber exempt property is asking €4.5 million, which amounts to a cost per sq metre of €11,421, through agents Allen & Jacobs.
