Sophisticated blend of old and new at Blackrock Victorian for €1.795m

Number 39 Glenart Avenue works on many levels for its current owners, who bought this semidetached part-redbrick Victorian house in 2016, and completely renovated it, bringing in architect Paul Brazil to oversee the tasteful, sophisticated blend of old and new.

The large livingroom, with its lovely, intricate cornicing and ceiling rose, bay window and feature marble fireplace, has provided the perfect place for entertaining guests or cosying up with their kids.

The kitchen-diningroom, reached from the livingroom via large folding glazed doors, is a superb space, fully fitted with high-end appliances, a polished quartz worktop, a ceramic induction hob and concealed electronic extractor, with an island-breakfast bar forming the centrepiece of the room.

And then there’s the rear extension, with family room at first-floor level behind glazed doors, and a bedroom at garden level. The family room has limed-oak timber flooring, a feature rooflight, built-in shelving and storage, and large picture windows looking out to the rear, letting in all-day light from the south. It’s a great place for children to play, allowing parents to keep watch on them whether they’re in the kitchen-diningroom or the livingroom.

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Stairs lead down from the family room directly to the small, landscaped south-facing back garden, which is mostly laid out in artificial grass for safe play, but also have two patio areas. It’s not the long back garden you’d normally associate with these period houses, but the owners have made the most of the space, and there is handy access from Grove Avenue, a quiet, narrow street with little through traffic to disturb the sense of tranquillity.

The owners have added a gravelled parking space to the front. Granite steps lead to the front door, where the entrance hall displays intricate ceiling cornicing and a centre rose, plus wide-plank walnut timber flooring, which also runs through the livingroom, kitchen-diningroom and large utility room and guest WC to the back. The cornicing and centre roses, floors and fireplaces were all in excellent condition when the owners bought the house – all they had to do was add the modern touches to elevate it.

One striking period detail is the large clerestory window joining the hallway with the livingroom, which distributes the light and gives the livingroom a distinctive look.

The main stairs lead from the hallway down to a long garden-level hallway, with ample storage along its entire length. There’s handy entrance to the front, with a boot room under the granite steps, and here the owners have also neatly tucked away the washing machine and tumble dryer, so there’s no need to lug laundry upstairs.

There are four bedrooms here, including the new bedroom which faces out to the back garden. The three original bedrooms have walnut timber flooring; the principal bedroom suite to the front is a lovely room with a big bay window and ceiling cornice. It has a large walk-in wardrobe with built-in shelving, drawers and dressing mirror, and an en suite with feature bookmatched marble tiled wall and marble tiled floor, giving it an air of Roman luxury.

Bedrooms two and three have built-in wardrobes, and bedroom four is being used as a home office, with its window to the rear allowing the owners to keep an eye on the kids playing in the back garden.

The owners are also delighted they took Brazil’s advice and put in a large family bathroom with double rainhead shower, a feature oval free-standing bath with free-standing mixer tap unit, a wooden washstand with marble top and splashback, a built-in mirror and lovely patterned tiles on the floor and part of the walls. It’s a bathroom for a busy family.

As the members of the owner’s family are only growing bigger and busier, they have decided to move to a bigger home. Number 39 Glenart Avenue, measuring 225sq m (2,422sq ft) with a C2 Ber rating, is on sale through Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty, asking €1.795 million.