Some people consider two-storey-over-basement houses unsuitable for families with young children, but the downstairs layout of 77 Ranelagh Road, in Dublin 6, has been configured especially for them. Once inside the door at garden level, you can put wet things straight into the wash, as the utility area is under the front steps; the smart tiled bathroom with shower is a little way along the wide hall on the left, and just after this is a shelved cupboard for coats, scooters, helmets and everything else you need on the way in or out.
Straight ahead is a staircase up to the hall level, and the grand part of the house, but here the open-plan space is bright and homely, with a dining table by the front window, the well-fitted kitchen anchored by a large marble-topped island. The sitting/family room, with jolly fishy wallpaper, incorporates a play space with a deep-seated box window projecting towards the east-facing back garden.
The house, a protected structure, underwent considerable renovation in 2009, when the previous owner restored it from office to residential use, lowering the ground level in the basement and rebuilding the return, adding a single-storey extension. This gives a good ceiling height, with a long rooflight brightening the central area. New owners could consider moving the dining table towards the garden doors and partitioning off the front section into a sitting room or office; its huge granite fireplace now stores wood and wine in a creative arrangement.
Outside, the current owners – who bought the Ber-exempt property in 2012 for €915,000, according to the Property Price Register – took on the only remaining job, creating a lovely stepped back garden with lawn, patio and play area. This is the only garden between numbers 68 and 80 Ranelagh Road, the stretch between Northbrook Road and Dartmouth Road, that has not been built on and a wide gate opens to Dartmouth Terrace. Planning permission for a mews house at 77 Dartmouth Terrace was granted in 2007, but lapsed in 2012.
Approaching the house from the street, past the railed and gravelled car park space, and the yew-hedged storage places for bikes and bins, a tall flight of granite steps lead up to a pale blue door under a simple fanlight. Inside, cornices and centrepieces – the ceilings are 10ft here – are intact and the dark-stained floorboards run across the hall and into the two reception rooms to the left. These have marble fireplaces and can be divided by folding doors. The shutters work perfectly and, along with the cool paint tones throughout the 228sq m (2,454 sq ft) house, give a fresh, uncluttered feeling.
Also on this floor, near the top of the kitchen stairs, is a double bedroom, with wardrobes in a recess and a view over the back garden.
Up the main stairs, through an arch that retains some of the original window, the large main bathroom in the return has a wide shower, twin basins and a freestanding bath.
On the top floor, the huge main bedroom spans the front of the house, with two tall sash windows, a grand fireplace with beautiful botanical tiles, and built-in wardrobes lining one wall. A second large double room overlooks the back, where the Luas hums along its raised track.
This is a reminder of the very handy location, close to every kind of shop in Ranelagh and a short walk to town, with a bus stop almost outside the door, a cool coffee haunt drawing queues just a few metres away, green spaces at Dartmouth and Mountpleasant squares, and an abundance of local schools and sports clubs.
Number 77 Ranelagh Road is for sale through Sherry FitzGerald with an asking price of €1.695 million.
