Stella Gardens is a gorgeously appointed part of Ringsend whose green on Aikenhead Terrace is the beating heart of the development and is used by all the children in the area. They can leave their toys strewn there untouched and the south-facing grassy and tree-lined space fronts onto the Dodder walkway.
Dermot O’Hurley Avenue is one of the streets that bookends this artisan development, which is a mix of terraced two-up, two-downs and single-storey cottages. The location is first-rate but many families outgrow the houses, which average between about 67 and 75sq m in size, some including extensions.
Many have been transformed to become sizeable homes. None more so than number 14, whose owners brought in architect Adrian Hill to reimagine it.
The two-bedroom cottage had already been extended when its owner bought it in 2005, with one bedroom to the front and the second to the rear.
Hill completely upended this footprint, getting rid of the front accommodation to open up the ground floor, giving a large kitchen that overlooks the patio, and a living area to the front. The patio, while small, is tiled and there is space for a good-size barbecue. It is shrouded by a sublimely mature jasmine that gives it complete privacy.
Hill turned the back bedroom into a bright living room which has a siding door that you can close to shut out the rest of the house, a detail his interior architect, Caroline Keane, insisted on.
“It was a godsend during lockdown,” says the owner.
Hill also removed the space-devouring chimneybreast and went up a level, installing a staircase with acres of storage underneath and putting two bedrooms on this new first-floor level. The main bedroom opens out to a small but sun-drenched, south-facing balcony populated by foliage that also provides privacy. This has a walk-on glass roof light that helps illuminate the living room below.
Crucially, he also installed a good-size bathroom at this level. It too has rooflights making it bright and well-ventilated and is where the owner often dries clothes. It is also big enough to fit a good-size shower stall and separate bath.
As well as a second double the owner, who works as a voice-over artist, has a small, completely soundproof studio at this level that doubles as a walk-in wardrobe, the garments further helping to dampen the sound of her voice.
Hill also factored in a small laundry room, which is secreted off the main open-plan room downstairs and includes a guest toilet.
Very smartly appointed and now extending to 101sq m (1,130sq ft), number 14 has a B2 Ber and is asking €590,000 through agent SherryFitzGerald.
The houses on either side of it have both sold recently. Number 15, the end-of-terrace property, went for €375,000 earlier this year, while number 13 sold for €365,000 in 2019, according to the Property Price Register.
