The houses on Charlemont Avenue, a terrace of seven brick-fronted properties off Crofton Road in the heart of Dún Laoghaire, were built in the 1840s, when Kingstown, as Dún Laoghaire then was, was developing rapidly. Smaller than Victorian houses such as those around the corner on Charlemont Terrace, they still have lots of grand period details.
Number 4 Charlemont Avenue, for example, has large sash windows and ornate plasterwork in its hall and front reception rooms. Now the 162sq m (1,744sq ft) recently renovated three-bed house, built in 1848, is for sale through Sherry FitzGerald for €1.2 million. It last sold in 2021 for €1.075 million, according to the Property Price Register. As a protected structure, it is Ber exempt.
Charlemont Avenue runs from Crofton Road on Dún Laoghaire’s seafront up to the back entrance of St Michael’s Hospital. Number 4, a double-fronted home, is about halfway up, with a distinctive front garden: manicured hedging lines the path to the front door, with two decked seating areas on the left. It is overlooked at the back by one wing of the hospital.
There’s a colourful fanlight over the front door, which opens into a pale marble-tiled front hall: it has elaborate cornicing, a centre rose and an archway at the end.
Rate of home mortgages over 90 days in arrears falls to lowest in 15 years
Greystar buys Dublin student housing scheme for around €150m
Typical price paid for home by first-time buyer up €88,000 on five years ago
Housing in Ireland is among the most expensive and most affordable in the EU. How does that happen?
There are four rooms off the hall, nearly all the same size. The two front rooms on either side have tall sash windows, centre roses and ornate cornicing, stripped and polished timber floors and large open fireplaces.
The drawingroom on the right is painted a deep blue and has a black cast-iron fireplace with green tiles inset. The diningroom on the other side of the hall has a pale grey marble fireplace with matching inset green tiles. This room is painted mostly white, with one very pale green feature wall.
The two downstairs rooms at the back are just slightly smaller than the front reception rooms. A sittingroom/family room on the left has a tall sash window overlooking the back garden, a black cast-iron fireplace with a coal-effect gas fire, simple coving and some fitted wall units. The room on the opposite side of the hall, fitted out as a bedroom, has a large sash window and coal-effect gas fire and laminate timber floor.
[ A little gem on Victoria Terrace in Dundrum for €495,000Opens in new window ]
A few steps at the end of the hall – past a small mosaic-tiled understairs toilet – lead down to the long kitchen/breakfast room. It’s floored with the same pale marble tiles as the hall and fitted with glossy white units with a large island unit in the centre: this has a sink inset and seating on one side. A wall of sliding patio doors opens on to a tiled outdoor patio/dining area which has a retractable awning over it.
Ten steps at the end of the front hall lead up to a small double bedroom on the return next to a smart tiled shower room. There’s a utility cupboard/hot press on the landing.
Open tread timber stairs lead to the attic room, fitted out as the main bedroom. It spans the width of the house, has a polished timber floor, two Velux windows, a small study area and lots of clever built-in under eaves storage. Its en suite is tiled with large grey tiles and has a bath and a shower.
The garden at the back of the house is overlooked by St Michael’s Hospital, separated from it by high stone walls. A strip of lawn that needs some TLC is fringed by flower beds with a mix of green shrubs; there’s also some outdoor storage in the garden.
There is residents’ on-street parking at the front. The house is a short walk to George’s Street in the centre of Dún Laoghaire and a few minutes’ walk to Dún Laoghaire Dart station.
