Tolka classic in Glasnevin with sleek Tiger styling

A house by the banks of the Tolka river built in 1925, comprehensively refurbished and extended 10 years ago, is a bright, airy home with all the sleek trappings of the Tiger era. The entire ground level is floored with cream marble tiles (with underfloor heating), the large kitchen/breakfast room has a long Silestone-topped island unit, bathrooms are mostly fully tiled and there’s a walk-in dressing room off the main bedroom. Walls are painted white, and ceilings are high.

Owned by Matthew Kelly of M.Kelly Interiors (and nephew of the celebrated carpet man, Des), the detached 240sq m (2,583sq ft) five-bedroom house at 5 St Mobhi Drive, Glasnevin, Dublin 9, is for sale through Movehome.ie for €1.3 million. A slightly smaller refurbished semi-detached house nearby, 9 St Mobhi Drive, sold in September 2016 for €920,000.

Mobhi Drive is a quiet street linking St Mobhi Road to Glasnevin Hill and its houses are on an elevated site looking over the Tolka towards the Botanic Gardens. Number 5 is nearly directly behind the distinctive Our Lady of Dolours Church (locally called The Wigwam) and close to Bon Secours Hospital and the Met Éireann offices.

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There’s an unusually large front garden with a big lawn, a number of mature trees and room to park several cars in the driveway which slopes up to the front door. This opens into a bright hall, where two windows look into a side passage. A staircase with polished oak stairs is in the centre of the hall at the back.

Sandstone fireplace

Oak doors on the right of the hall open into a sitting room with a sandstone fireplace and a bay window overlooking the front garden; doors from here open to a conservatory. Double doors with glass panels lead from here into a long living room that stretches to the back of the house, where French doors open into a patio space at the side.

A narrow passageway – with a tiled shower room on one side, a utility room on the other – opens into the kitchen/breakfast room in the extension at the back of the house: it’s a bright space, with pale units, two large windows looking on to the side patio, a skylight towards the back and glazed doors into the back garden.

There’s another patio area here and a small lawn, with a small separate building at the back billed as a playroom in the brochure – this could also be a small study or studio. It opens in turn into a half-covered storage shed.

Upstairs, there are four bedrooms (three doubles and a single) off the first floor landing (the only carpeted floors in the house, barring some attractive rugs downstairs).

Two have en-suite bathrooms and the main bedroom at the back of the house has a walk-in wardrobe as well as built-in wardrobes. There’s a  smart family bathroom here too. Another steep flight of stairs leads up to an under-eaves bedroom.