Smart city pad beside Merrion Square for €650k

The Plantation is a boutique apartment block in the heart of Georgian Dublin that was once home to You’ve Got a Friend singer-songwriter Carole King and actor Patrick Bergin.

The redbrick-faced building was built in 1984 and is situated on the north side of Herbert Street, just up the street from the Pepper Canister church and a block from both Merrion Square and the Grand Canal.

And while the area is lively during normal working hours it is blissfully quiet in the evening and on weekends. With just nine apartments in the development, three on the ground floor, three on the first floor and three duplexes at the top of the building, it offers a smart way to do city centre living.

Number 8 is a bright duplex property at the top of the building with multiple balconies that has been smartly upgraded by its current owner. She bought it in 2017, paying €535,000 for the two-bed unit, according to the property price register.

Apartments dating from this era tend to be more generous in size and this one extends to 101 sq m/1067sq ft. The owner upgraded the electric heating system which can be operated remotely using an app on your phone.

The hall has smart wainscot panelling that complements the surrounding grand period properties. The owner refreshed the existing kitchen, painting the units a cool elephant grey, and laid a fashionably dark linonelum over the solid timber boards.

She also removed the door that leads from the hall to create an opening and a better sense of flow. The room is big enough to fit a small kitchen table if you remove the butcher’s block that currently faces the bank of units.

A door leads through to the living room, an impressive, dual aspect room that has doors leading out to balconies on two sides. One of these overlooks the garden of the Sisters of Mercy convent on Baggot Street. It gets westerly, evening sun.

The second overlooks Herbert Street and from here it’s possible enjoy the sun – when it shines – from morning and through the day. Here the flooring is a warm walnut veneer, as it is through most of the rest of this floor.

There is another balcony off one of the property’s two double bedrooms, which is also on this floor, along with one of its two newly appointed bathrooms. This floor extends to over 62 sq m/667sq ft, the size of many smaller two-bed units.

The second bedroom is on the next level, accessed via a brass and steel spiral staircase that is situated to the left of the front door. The main bedroom is set out over 38 sq m/409sq ft of space with each of the key areas set into nooks (not dissimilar to the points of a compass).

The bed sits snugly under a dormer roof, there’s a home office area at the top of the stairs as well as a roomy shower en suite that enjoys one of this floor’s many porthole windows. The wall space between the beams has been cleverly used to position chests of drawers. There’s a walk-in wardrobe area hidden under a low sloping beam. The room is private yet light-filled, thanks to the roof lights above.

In American real estate parlance this duplex would be termed a “walk-up”, meaning there is no lift, and thereby perhaps limiting its appeal to downsizers. But the property’s charm, private balconies and location should attract any number of local professionals seeking a city pad.

The property, which is asking €650,000 through agent Felicity Fox, comes to market with one designated car parking space and a D1 Ber rating. Currently the annual management fee is €2,350.