One of the five main Georgian squares in Dublin, Mountjoy Square is the only perfect square in the city, measuring 140m on all four sides. It was laid out in 1789 by Viscount Mountjoy, Luke Gardiner II, whose family dominated development in the north inner city. When completed, historians Warburton, Whitelaw and Walsh all agreed that “its neatness and simplicity entitles the square to rank high among the finest in Europe”. More recently, architectural critic Christine Casey remarked in 2005, on its outstanding neoclassical plasterwork, which she considered finer than the examples found on the south side of the city on Merrion Square.
Back in the day, cows were diverted from being driven near the square, so as not to disturb the tennis and croquet introduced to the communal park to which all 68 buildings had access. Notable residents over the years include Arthur Guinness, who died there in 1803. His descendant Desmond Guinness attempted to save the square in 1966, buying several demolished lots with other members of the Georgian Society.
Artists included stuccodore Michael Stapleton — considered to be the most skilled artisan in his field at the time — while playwright Seán O’Casey along with poet and editor of the Irish People, lived at numbers 35 and 53 respectively, and O’Casey’s trilogy of plays were set in a tenement on “Hilljoy Square”.
As its grandeur faded in the 1960s and 1970s, a basement in the square was home to the Kasbah Health Studio, a brothel alleged to be a haunt of members of the clergy, politicians and businessmen.
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But perhaps the greatest cohort of the square’s residents from its peak in the late 1700s and early 1800s, when it was an altogether more desirable address, were legal eagles and government.
Number 65 which “forms part of the most intact original terrace” on the square, with notable features being “the extremely tall first window openings” according to the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage, was originally home to crown solicitor Piers Geale. He became allied to so many noble families through the marriages of his daughters, and from the frequent visitors of the gentry, that his home became known as “the House of Lords”.
More recently, it appeared on the market in 2011 when it was connected to its peer, number 66, which had operated as a premises for Discount Electrical. The two properties were offered for sale on the instructions of a liquidator for the sum of €600,000, discounted from €950,000.
The properties were purchased subsequently “as shells” by a family according to Michael O’Neill of Sherry FitzGerald, who is handling the sale of the now-renovated number 65.
Extending to a whopping 584sq m (6,286sq ft) and set out across four floors over basement, it now has offices at basement and hall level, while the upper floors have an outstanding piano nobile — housing a drawingroom and diningroom with bedrooms, a second kitchen and livingroom on the floors above. Some of the ceilings soar to 4.6m (15ft) with incredible plasterwork, which is complemented by the property’s original flooring and period fireplaces. The sheer grandeur and scale of the rooms allow for oversized artwork which dwarf a regular sized diningroom table.
Given its size, it’s all a movable feast, as it could have lots of bedrooms (it currently has three) if it was to become purely a family home. Besides generating an income through extra office space at basement level, there is an opportunity to turn this floor into a two-bedroom apartment, which O’Neill says could generate rental income in the region of €2,000 or more per month.
Another bonus is the house’s outdoor terrace, accessed via French doors on the first floor and off-street parking for two cars, adjacent to an old redbrick facade. Secured by steel supports, this structure had planning — since lapsed — to turn it into a mews, so this is another option for new owners.
It is rare that a house of such an impressive calibre comes for sale and the quality of its stucco work — most definitely influenced by Michael Stapleton — will elicit oohs and aahs from visitors for years to come.
Number 65, which is Ber-exempt, is now on the market seeking €1.875 million through Sherry FitzGerald.
