One of the most unusual Dublin houses to come to the market in recent weeks is Westerton Lodge, on Ballinteer Road, Dundrum, a rambling, granite built, 19th century house built around two sides of a courtyard. It has four bedrooms, three reception rooms and a conservatory that also acts as the entrance hallway overlooking the courtyard. Scheduled for auction by Ganly Waters on July 14th, it is expected to make in excess of £450,000.
Located close to Dundrum village, the property was originally the coach-house to Westerton House, one of the grand houses built in the area in the 1880s. The courtyard is entered via a pair of large gates, which open directly on to Ballinteer Road, with the front door to the side and opening directly into the conservatory. Granite steps from the courtyard lead to a first floor drawing room and offer an alternative entrance. The other remaining sides of the courtyard are taken up with workshops occupying some 1,000 sq. ft - which would easily convert to living accommodation - and a high, creeper-clad wall.
The present owner, who uses the workshops for his cabinet-making business, has been working on the house since 1985. Old, church roof slates were sourced when the roof needed repairing, floors throughout are of pitch pine and maple, kitchen units are trimmed with beech and upstairs rooms have high, wood-panelled ceilings in Douglas fir. It is a spacious house of around 2,000 sq. ft.
The conservatory has glazed, terracotta tiles with a decorative inset and a conveniently wide window sill around two sides.
It opens directly into the kitchen, where the floor is similarly tiled and where there is a cast-iron fireplace with copper canopy. A dresser-type rack has been built into one wall, the worktops are of beech, white lacquered units have a beech trim and there is a fitted NEFF cooker and hob. A step up and through an arch leads to the dining room, where the floor is of pitch pine and a picture window overlooks the courtyard. The white painted timber fireplace is inset with cast-iron and marble while the hearth is of polished granite. Mahogany panelled doors conceal the boiler and storage space.
A wrought-iron spiral staircase in the kitchen leads to an attic-style first floor sitting room. A Velux in the ceiling, as well as conventional windows in two walls, ensure plenty of light.
A door leads to an L-shaped corridor, off which there are the bedrooms. This part of the house has maple floors, high, panelled ceilings in Douglas fir, decorative glass panels over doors and a plenty of Velux windows. Three of the bedrooms have built-in, painted double wardrobes and one has a wash-hand basin. The family shower room has decorative tiling, wash-hand basin and fitted mirror.
A drawing room near the end of the corridor (the one reached via the steps from the courtyard) has a door-window and is cottage-style with another panelled ceiling, a balcony, which comes out over about one-third of the room and windows on two sides, one overlooking a blue spruce. This leads on to the fourth bedroom, which has three windows and a built-in wardrobe. Off the courtyard, and under the granite steps, there is a plumbed utility room with sink and guest lavatory. The courtyard has bushes and plants set around about and, in a bower-like corner, a seat which would cosily fit two.
