Live beside a secret garden in Phibsborough for €295,000

Known as Dublin’s secret garden, the former leg of the Grand Canal and old reservoir at Blessington Street Basin is a true hidden gem, despite it being bang in the middle of Dublin. Surrounded by high walls, this oasis has an abundance of birdlife in its ponds and is just a short walk from a lovely two-bedroom apartment that has just been launched to the market through Sherry FitzGerald.

Though the unit is not large, at 47sq m (506sq ft), it has been cleverly adapted by its current owners. .

Apartments in Georgian buildings are rare enough to come by, and this offering is part of three houses in a terrace that were converted to 22 units back in the late 1990s. The owners purchased theirs in 2017 for €213,750 according to the Property Price Register, and undertook some changes to their home.

Firstly they addressed the upstairs bathroom (the unit has two), which they gave a full refurbishment, while also moving the loo for better functionality.

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Downstairs “we were conscious of space and storage so took out a big water tank and replaced it with two small water heaters”. This now means that all their hot-water requirements are met by these heaters and one electric shower, in addition to a hot-water tap in the kitchen. In doing this, they freed up all the space under the stairs (the unit is set over two levels) for much-needed storage.

“[The handyman for the building] arrange[d] plumbers for our bathrooms and he’s a very talented carpenter,” says the owner. “I designed the kitchen, and he installed it, while also doing the \[oak herringbone\] flooring and wardrobes for us.”

The couple have been very clever with the layout of their home. Not only did they reclaim storage, the fact the kitchen is handleless and matt – with the splashback in the same colour – allows it to almost sink into the background if you’re sitting in the living space. The island is also on wheels so can be moved over if catering for large numbers – as they did last Christmas – where they sat 10 around a coffee table that cleverly extends to become a dining table for dinner.

The owners are off to Cork as one of them is pursuing a BA in visual art on Sherkin Island.

They have loved their time in their home. “It’s so central and you get remarkable colours from sunrises and sunsets here. The fact that the livingroom is completely separate to the hall is a big bonus, as is the fact that the house is so calm and there are so many parks in the area.”

Their home, which has a Ber of F and comes with one off-street car-parking space to the rear, is now on the market seeking €295,000.