Portobello’s redbricks have changed radically since the 1990s when these terraced houses were subdivided into multi-units and were an integral part of Dublin’s flatland.
Most have since returned to being family homes with all manner of swanky extensions, but few compete with the discreet aggrandisement of number 22 Carlisle Street.
Its refurbishment in 2011 added about 75sq m (807sq ft) to its original 115sq m (1,237sq ft), but more than half of the additional space was underground.
This type of approach – more frequently seen in the super-prime properties of London’s Knightsbridge and Chelsea – creates what’s been monikered an iceberg house, where much of the additional space is subterranean and doesn’t interfere with sightlines and the architectural integrity of period terraces and squares. It is expensive to execute.
In London some of these projects go down several floors.
The Carlisle Street footprint is much more bijou below ground. For his entry to the RIAI 2011 regional awards, architect Colm Duggan explained that the “design challenge was to connect and integrate the below-ground rooms with the other living spaces of the dwelling and to make this subterranean space as light-filled and accessible as if it were above ground”.
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The house already had large windows, square rooms, good ceiling heights and a west-facing back garden, all features the owners wanted to retain. By extending the house out at ground level and digging down, Duggan delivered a four-bedroom, three-bathroom home of 192sq m (2,066sq ft), that has a flow that really works. The input of the design eye of one of the owners, a graphic designer, is also evident in the pops of colour throughout.
The result is light-filled without anyone having to reach for their sunglasses to spend time there, and it has really withstood the test of time. All the requirements of families looking to buy a place in walk-in condition, where there is room to grow, are ticked.
It opens into a small hall with a glass inner door that, once closed, creates distance from the outside world. The front room remains a traditional room with a door so you can shut out the rest of the house. Painted and staged for sale by Sarah Evers, it has a feature wall papered in a green print and retains its original marble fire surround.
The staircase now rises through the centre of the house with a guest WC underneath. On the first floor, the roof valley has been removed and glazed over the full width of the building. This flat roof light, which is the size of the landing, washes the centre of the house in light.
To the rear is a well-proportioned open-plan kitchen, dining and living area. This extends to about 48sq m (516sq ft), the size of some two-bedroom apartments, with its terrazzo floor acting as a heat-sink to store all the solar energy. It is also warmed by underfloor heating.
The room is zoned into different spaces, with different floorings used to help with the demarcation of each. The galley-style kitchen runs the length of the boundary wall and sloping window creates a little window seat, ideal for smaller kids to perch on. From here you step up to the dining area, which overlooks the garden, the clamshell profile of the rear roof opening the space up to the afternoon sun.
High-level windows to internal partitions allow warm natural light to penetrate front and rear living spaces as sunlight moves from east to west.
The central roof-light over the rear stairwell allows light to penetrate to the basement, which is accessed by a curved balustrade. When the owners’ children were toddlers they gated this staircase until their eldest was age three.
The steps lead down to a luxuriously large hall with lots of storage that could be used as a play area for small kids, especially if a parent is working from home as there is a glass-walled home office that is light-filled thanks to another large, sloped window looking out and up to the garden. This allows you to survey the play but gives some sense of distance.
The first of the property’s four double bedrooms is to the back, lit from another skylight. It would be ideal for an older teenager or au pair. The bedroom window looks out to a set of stepped planters that climb up to ground level, a lovely way to bring light and nature in. From here, double doors open out to another set of steps that take you up to the garden, where the only evidence of the habitable space beneath is a slab of reinforced glass that lights the basement bedroom.
This space is sheltered, with built-in seating and pedestrian rear access, meaning no bikes need ever live in the hall.
Upstairs, on the first floor, there are three good-sized double bedrooms. At the front, the main bedroom spans the width of the property and is a sybarite’s dream for it includes a free-standing bath and sink.
The C3-rated property is seeking €1.4 million through agents Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty.
