Number 22 Elgin Road is a quintessential example of a fine Victorian home in Dublin 4. Dating from the 1860s, the three-storey over-garden level property offers a huge 418sq m (4,500sq ft) of living space.
Details on the exterior offer an indication of the very fine period details that lie inside.
Of interest are the unusual bootscrapers at either side of the front door – which itself is flanked by impressive Doric columns. The scrapers are set within cut granite arches which mimic the curvature of the entrance. This detail may be linked to the former profession as a bootmaker of Patrick Cranny, the builder of this terrace of houses
At the pinnacle of his career Cranny catered to the well-heeled, who retained custom-made wooden lasts at his shop so they could reorder boots without a fitting.
He was the sole bootmaker to the lord lieutenant of Ireland at a time when there were over 5,000 bootmakers in Dublin. After the industrialisation of bootmaking, he turned to building, and is responsible for many of the fine period houses in Dublin 4 and Dublin 6.
The property is currently laid out in seven units, but all the period details remain intact. The decorative plasterwork is simply stunning, albeit some of which is painted in lurid colours better suited to exotic fowl.
Renovated
There are two options for buyers interested in this substantial Dublin 4 property which was renovated in 2008. Firstly, as a rental property, where annual income would be more than €100,000.
Secondly, with the help of a good conservation architect the house could easily be transformed back into a superb family home. This would not be the formidable task it may appear to be as the period details are intact and lie behind simple partitions, while the house has already been re-plumbed and re-roofed.
While it would require deep pockets, in return the new owners would have a view to the octagonal belfry of St Bartholomew’s church from the master bedroom, and could enjoy the backdrop of 16th century chants from Ireland’s only all-male choir.
Planning was granted in 2008 for off-street parking and while now expired there is a precedence for same.
Knight Frank is seeking €2.75 million for Number 22. Number 18, in turnkey condition, sold for €4.8 million in 2014.
