Ranelagh: Number 35 Mountainview Road in Ranelagh lives up to its name, with views of the Dublin Mountains through bay windows at the front of the house. The redbrick semi-detached house will be auctioned on November 5th by HOK Residential with a guide of €875,000.
The large front hallway, with its stained glass on either side of the front door, has a distinctly arts and crafts feel and all fireplaces incorporate tiling reminiscent of architect and furniture designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh's style - placing this house at the turn of the 20th century.
The period features are intact in this home. When the current owners, writer Catherine Donnelly and Frank Sheerin, moved in half a century ago, they inherited elements of history, which are still there.
The large, black stove that divides the kitchen/diningroom, to the back of the house, was made by Irish firm Baxendales. Still working, it is set in a surround covered in shiny white Victorian tiling. The red and black tiling on the floor is marked where previous owners chopped wood for the stove.
This is typical late 19th century Ranelagh house which has been kept in style but hasn't had a recent overhaul. It's a comfortable east/west-facing home, with a good light.
On the ground floor the two livingrooms, with wooden floors and stone fireplaces, have been knocked into one. Down a few steps is the kitchen and diningroom.
On the return upstairs is a toilet next to a small bathroom, whose tongue-and-groove walls give it a country feel. Beside this is a small room, currently an office, and beyond is a bedroom overlooking the garden.
Up another flight of stairs to the front of the house are three bedrooms, two facing the street and one overlooking the garden.
The garden has the same relaxed atmosphere as the house. The couple wanted to retain a country feel, which they've achieved with a scrambling clematis that covers an outside storage room, and an apple tree which dominates the lawn.
This is one of those perfect places that is quiet but close to the centre of Dublin. Catherine writes novels (she's just published State of Grace) and finds that the house doesn't suit her working life any more. So the couple are off to the country. But she says that it's an emotional time for her and Frank, leaving after so long. And it will be hard, this is a lovely family house with character.
