Comparing building energy ratings before and after a house has been renovated is a good indication to the level of works undertaken. While many agents may list properties as “having undergone extensive renovations”, the rating quantifies that. Take the case of 21 Templeogue Road in Terenure, an attractive midterrace house a couple of steps from the village: when it was last for sale in 2017 it had a Ber of F, which has now risen to a much improved B2.
As the old brochure is still online you can see what the couple who live here purchased – for €595,000 in 2018, according to the Property Price Register. “Looking back we had no idea the amount of work that was ahead of us, but we knew the house had really good bones,” say the owners, who are staying in the locality.
Windows have been changed to triple-glazed Carlson units to the front, which have the benefit of soundproofing, useful as the house is on a main road, with new double-glazed Carlson units to the rear.
An extension, designed by the owners in conjunction with their builder, VR Construction, saw a spacious light-filled kitchen/diningroom added to the rear in 2020, when the whole house was upgraded. This now acts as the hub of the home, while also doubling as the dining area, and from here there is access to the back garden through a set of Munster Joinery patio doors.
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This allows the two interconnecting rooms to the front of the property to have more specific purposes, with a formal livingroom to the front and TV room/playroom in the middle to suit the current owners’ needs.
Oak parquet laid in herringbone style now runs throughout the entire ground floor adding warmth to the rooms, which now have a great sense of flow thanks to large openings between them.
Upstairs are four bedrooms, one of which is used as an office. The main bedroom benefits from a fine bay window.
When renovations were taking place, owners found some interesting bits of history: “Two of the five fireplaces had been sealed up and we found an old magazine from 1972 with George Best on the front. Then we also found letters from British soldiers serving in the second World War, and a letter from tax collectors addressed to the original builder of the terrace.” Now those letters from soldiers and Revenue are framed in the downstairs loo, where they will serve as a reminder to new owners as to some of the history of their home.
Despite the extension, a good-sized garden still remains to the rear and would benefit from further planting. There’s also a large garage with electric roller doors providing off-street parking.
Terenure is 4km from St Stephen’s Green, close to a number of primary and secondary schools and a host of sporting and shopping amenities.
The 125sq m (1,345sq ft) property, fully refurbished and in walk-in condition, is now on the market through DNG, seeking €895,000.
