“When we went to view the house in July 2016, we thought it had everything: beautiful proportions, a south-facing garden and a lovely flow to it,” says the owner of 52 Kimmage Road Lower in Harold’s Cross.
After purchasing the property – for €630,000 according to the Property Price Register – the house was fully renovated over the course of a year. “It was G rated back then and it really hadn’t been touched in 80 years, bar some cosmetic stuff,” the owner says.
All the old floors were taken up and high-performance insulation was inserted beneath, which, along with new wooden sash windows by Kells Windows, give the house a Ber rating of D1.
The floorboards have been given a light walnut stain and were relaid in the original part of the house. Concrete flooring was used in the architecturally designed contemporary kitchen, which echoes concrete used in the ceiling: “We really wanted to see the structure itself so the RSJs [rolled steel joists] have been covered in concrete.”
The contemporary kitchen with exposed brick and concrete is a complete contrast to the period features in the two front reception rooms. Both retain coving and ceiling roses and have marble fireplaces with cast-irons hearths.
The owner says they wanted something “different from the glass boxes” that many period homes have tacked on to the rear, so in the kitchen they used furniture-grade beech ply with concrete accents, and also fitted a window seat. Emyvale Carpentry and Joinery Services were tasked with the kitchen, which opens out to a courtyard, creating a division between the kitchen and the elevated back garden. A lovely feature in the kitchen is the installation of a red brick wall, which has been treated to look aged, and though the owners never got around to ageing the wall in the courtyard, they say it’s a simple task.
Upstairs are three fine double bedrooms plus a single room overlooking the front garden. The main bedroom has a lovely bay window, echoing its matching bay in the reception room underneath.
Along with a window seat in the kitchen, where light flows in from its south-facing aspect, another essential to the design brief was a courtyard. “It wasn’t done for privacy, as the garden is already private, I just really wanted that courtyard feel off the kitchen,” says the owner.
Here two perforated redbrick screens allow light and views to the garden behind, while ivy has been planted in some of the openings for interest. Underfoot is a resin-on-concrete finish, while a swathe of Chinese wisteria creeps along the back kitchen wall. Beyond is a good-sized private garden that needs planting, so new owners have a blank canvas when it comes to their design.
Number 52, in walk-in condition, measures 150sq m (1,615sq ft) and is on the market through estate agent Mullery O’Gara, seeking €1.1 million.
