Hearing that the current owner of a house you’re interested in buying is an interior designer is music to a prospective buyer’s ears. That is the case at 90 Merrion Road, where the owner oversaw the addition of a spacious, super-bright extension to the rear of this Tudor-style semidetached home.
The property offers an abundance of space for family members and visitors as it extends to 324sq m (3,488sq ft) over three floors, with five double bedrooms. The current owners bought the house for €1.3 million in 2013, according to the Property Price Register, after they were attracted to the flow of the layout that was in place. To that former footprint they added the open-plan kitchen and living space to the back of the house. It’s now on the market once again, through Sherry FitzGerald, seeking €2.7 million. It has B3 Ber.
The design elements of the rear living space are spectacular, with double-vaulted ceilings of skylights allowing light to flow in from all angles, angular wooden beams and a set of huge floor-to-ceiling modern windows, Gothic in style, with French doors at their centre opening out to the back garden. Rather than having an entirely modern extension, the owners wanted to ensure it had classical elements to complement the rest of the house.
This space is split into a spacious living area on one side with a large kitchen on the other, and a dining area by one window. The kitchen features a white metro-tile splashback that continues all the way across the wall and a substantial Calacatta marble-topped central island complete with wine-fridge and further storage underneath.
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Stepping out to the back garden, there is a raised patio area and steps down to the lawn flanked by mature planting on either side with hydrangea, agapanthus, Portuguese laurel and lavender as well as an apple tree at the bottom of the garden and overhang from the neighbour’s pear tree. There is a purpose-built gym room at the end of the garden, which could also be used as a home office, playroom or den.
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Number 90 Merrion Road, across the road from the attractive grounds and period building of the Clayton Hotel, is set well back from the street behind electric gates. The large, airy entrance hall is impressive with herringbone oak flooring and wainscoting on the walls.
To the right off the hall is the livingroom, which benefits from a huge bay to the front and a marble fireplace. It opens into the diningroom, lined with bookshelves, where the owner has some fabulous lighting pieces she has collected over the years, including a gold multi-bulb pendant light over the dining table and a 1980s wall hanging featuring cylindrical light beams over the fireplace.
On the opposite side of the hallway is another room that was once a playroom and is now more of a hangout/gaming room for teenagers. There is also a modern WC under the stairs.
On the first floor, passing colourful original stained-glass windows in the landing, the main bedroom sits to the rear, off which is a generous-sized all-marble shower room that leads into a walk-in wardrobe with floor-to-ceilings railings and shelves. A second double bedroom sits to the front with access to a shower room that can also be accessed from the hall.
There are three further good-sized doubles on the second floor, two of which share a Jack and Jill en suite, as well as another WC off the hall.
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This perfectly presented walk-in home also benefits from the wonderful location in Ballsbridge, and one of the owners says she is looking forward to the coming and goings at the nearby RDS when the Horse Show gets going on August 14th. The area, in the heart of the embassy belt, with the British embassy just across the road, is lovely and quiet at the weekend, the owner says, when offices are closed.
The pug and jug (Jack Russel-pug) that live here currently are pampered pooches indeed with Herbert Park and Sandymount Strand just a short distance away for their daily walks. A Dublin Bus stops just outside the house on Merrion Road, and Sandymount Dart station is five minutes away, while you could reach St Stephen’s Green in the city centre in 20 minutes by bike.
