The location of 4 Cross Avenue, directly across the road from Sion Hill College at its intersection with Mount Merrion Avenue, places this four-storey, five-bed also just a stone’s throw from Blackrock College and Willow Park.
The 278sq m (2,922sq ft) property was laid out as a series of flats when the owners bought it 22 years ago and they proceeded to gut the place, taking out all the floors and ceilings, dry-lining all external walls and bringing the Ber up to a B3 – a significant achievement for a Georgian house built in 1835. The floors, ceilings and joinery are all new, as are the double-glazed period-style sash windows. They rewired, replumbed and installed old cast-iron radiators. The only remaining original features are the front door, painted a classic navy, and the wide pine doors to the interconnected reception rooms on the ground floor.
Elegance reigns throughout the house; the owners have achieved a thorough refurbishment while respecting the property’s Georgian qualities. Formal box hedging sets the tone from the outset in the front garden – there is on-street residents’ parking to the front as well as another parking space to the rear of the property, accessed off Mount Merrion Avenue through a secure gate.
Shining cream marble tiles adorn the hall, which has a classic arch and cornicing and the first of the fine light fittings that appear throughout the house, in this case a rustic, French-style chandelier. The diningroom is to the front of the house and the drawingroom is to the back, with a sash window overlooking the garden. A veined marble fireplace has a steel inset which, when the fire is lit (only about a dozen times a year, according to the owner, as the house is so warm), radiates heat out to the room. The floors in both these rooms are a striking French-oak laid in a herringbone configuration.
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Stairs lead down to the basement level, where there is a glossy black kitchen from Ikea and Corian stone worktops. There is a Smeg five-burner range hob, and French limestone floors. To the back of the kitchen is a clever nook with the laundry appliances hidden behind the same black doors as the kitchen.
A square arch separates the kitchen from the livingroom, painted a deep grey, with spot lighting, a storage wall with built-in desk and access to the front. The understairs area was damp-proofed and shelved and now holds an array of luggage and sports equipment. All the floors here were taken up during the refurbishment, new concrete was poured over insulation and underfloor heating installed.
A handsome family bathroom lies on the return of the stairs to the first floor, with Italian marble tiling. Most of this floor is taken up with the principal bedroom, a sumptuous space with a well-kitted out dressingroom linking the bedroom and an attractive en suite, which has a deep bath, shower and his-and-hers sinks.
There are two more bathrooms on the returns and a further three bedrooms on the top floor with gently sloping eaves.
The tiered garden is an absolute delight, well planted with bamboo, a small rectangular pond and dark-wood slatting covering the external walls of the house. South-facing, the owner says they live out here in good weather and it is easy to see why. “It’s a terribly easy house to live in,” says the owner who is downsizing as they are only using half the house now their children have grown up. Number 4 Cross Avenue is on the market through DNG, seeking €1.95 million.
