Former corporation cottages all over Dublin are being extended and renovated - and make premium prices when they come back on the market. This week two - one in Dundrum, the other in Sallynoggin - are on the market. Bernice Harrison and Eivlín Roden report
Dundrum: € 800,000 The Farranboley area of Dundrum is one of those old, small tightly-knit neighbourhoods that has changed considerably in recent years.
When the warren of small roads and cul-de-sacs down in a dip off the Dundrum road in Windy Arbour were built in the early 1930s, the corporation provided each cottage with a garden long enough to be self sufficient in vegetables and with room for a few pigs at the end.
It's still a very quiet almost rural area in atmosphere, despite its proximity to Dundrum's main road.
In recent years there has been considerable building activity in those long gardens so it's rare now to come across a house that hasn't been extended, or with a recently-built house in the substantial side garden.
Number 31 Farranboley Park is one of those extended cottages. It is for auction by Sherry Fitzgerald on November 10th with a guide of €800,000 .
It last changed hands in 1999 and the couple who bought it extended the semi-detached cottage to make the living area open-plan, with a large main bedroom, a second smaller bedroom, a smart contemporary looking bathroom and an eat-in kitchen fitted with oak units to match the oak flooring that runs throughout the ground floor. They also changed the look of the house somewhat by adding a porch and taking the dashing off to reveal the granite underneath.
Two years ago, with their family beginning to grow, they embarked upon a much more ambitious extension, effectively adding a two-storey timber and zinc "box" onto the back so that now the house has 149sq m (1,600sq ft).
There are three bedrooms upstairs in the new very modern looking extension as well as a spacious marble tiled shower room.
These are accessed via a new oak staircase that leads up from the open-plan kitchen area. As well as providing these extra bedrooms, the new modern looking extension also frees up the two bedrooms downstairs to become additional living space. Now, as well as the open-plan livingroom that leads into the kitchen, there is an additional livingroom and a child's playroom.
Overall, what was once a very modest house now feels particularly bright and spacious with flexible contemporary accommodation - and there are all the signs that the renovation involved the use of high spec materials from underfloor heating, oak floors upstairs and down, to the Travertine marble in the bathrooms.
Outside, at the back, there is a gravelled and decked patio area as well as lawn and to the front, drive-in parking for a couple of cars.
Sallynoggin: €575,000 Number 8 Honeypark is one of a pretty enclave of cottages secluded behind a high green hedge and wooden gates on Sallynoggin Road, Co Dublin. The extended cottage is for sale by private treaty through Douglas Newman Good with a guide price over €575,000.
Semi-detached, the 112sq m (1,200sq ft) cottage has been considerably upgraded and extended.
The outside façade has new timber windows and a new hall door but the original gabled front and slated roof have been retained. Once inside, the layout of the entire space has been rearranged to include the new L-shaped extension.
The house is entered through a small porch - where there is coat storage - and through a glass door into a big open kitchen/ dining area facing the front of the house. A curving wall painted pale green has a square raised fireplace and leads towards the back of the house, opening to large doors framing the back garden.
Two big windows light the Shaker-style fitted kitchen and the quarry-tiled dining area, which is divided by a granite-topped island unit.
Beyond the curving wall is a large family bathroom with blue wooden panelling, white tiles and white suite. Light streams in though a large Velux roof window and a window opening onto the back garden.
A bedroom with fitted cupboards is tucked into the front of the house beyond the bathroom.
To the right of the inner hall is an oak-floored livingroom with windows facing into the garden. Wide curved steps lead down to it and a staircase leads up to the main bedroom and a small third bedroom. This area can be cut off from the rest of the house by a sliding door and has its own door to the back garden.
The house is planned with simple clean lines, making the most of original features such as high coved ceilings, and incorporating new ones such as porthole windows in bedrooms.
Wooden floors, white walls and blocks of single colours give a contemporary feel, while the owners have added original details, such as a bell pull which comes from Frascati House in Blackrock.
The gardens have space in front for two cars, hidden bin storage and a covered storage passage to the back garden. The back has curving decking and a lawn with trees, and a high hedge.
