Elegant Rathmines Victorian with development potential for €2.25m

Fine Leinster Road house with planning permission 2.5km from Dublin city centre

Address: 60 Leinster Road, Rathmines, Dublin 6
Price: €2,250,000
Agent: Sherry FitzGerald
View this property on MyHome.ie

Number 60 Leinster Road overlooks the Grosvenor Park development, once home to the vast Leinster Park – the residence of Lord Longford, for whom the road is named – number 60 Leinster Road is well set back from road.

It is near the villages of Ranelagh, Rathmines, Terenure and Harold’s Cross, and the city centre is only 2½km away, giving this Victorian house a central location in terms of amenities, both leisure and educational.

A flight of granite steps leads the way into the hall of this 279sq m (3,000sq ft), elegant house set over three floors. At hall level are two interconnecting reception rooms, both with stained timber floors and impressive period details. A kitchen lies on the return and has steps allowing access down to the back garden.

Upstairs, the main bedroom takes up the entire width of the house. Two more bedrooms also occupy this level along with a family shower room.

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As it stands the property has a self-contained unit at garden level. It can easily be reinstated – returning the house to its three-storey grandeur as it was when first constructed in 1860. It has a kitchen/dining area, a utility room, a family room, a bathroom and a bedroom – which gives the property four in total. If the rooms were rejigged, it would be possible to have five to six bedrooms if required.

It is further enhanced by the back garden, 110ft in length. To the rear is access on to Grosvenor Lane, while there is off-street parking to the front for several cars.

The property retains many of its period details such as sash windows and shutters, cornicing and centre roses, along with open black marble chimneypieces.

The property was last on the market in 2018 when it had been restored by the then owners over the course of three decades. It achieved €1.86 million, according to the Property Price Register.

While it is a super spot in its current form, it has the benefit of planning permission for alterations. These provide a few options for new owners: the first granted application (planning reference 3084/19), which expires in October 2024, allows for the refurbishment and part reconfiguration of the main house.

Two further options lie in store for developing the rear site on Grosvenor Lane: firstly, planning reference: 2042/20, which expires in July 2025, allows for the construction of a three-bedroom, two-storey, 137sq m mews with parking, while construction of a two-bedroom 81sq m apartment over a one-bedroom 64sq m unit with two rear parking spaces is permitted under planning reference 4341/19, and expires in June 2025.

To build or not to build will remain an option for new owners, as it has so much potential and all of the headaches of planning are over. Though new owners may just might want to keep it as a garden and develop an oasis in the heart of Dublin 6.

Number 60, which is Ber exempt, is on the market through Sherry FitzGerald, seeking €2.25 million.

Elizabeth Birdthistle

Elizabeth Birdthistle

Elizabeth Birdthistle, a contributor to The Irish Times, writes about property, fine arts, antiques and collectables