Houses on Argyle Road beside Herbert Park are something of a rarity. Although the completely renovated number five came to market with McNally Handy in February for €3 million, the last house to come available here was number 16, which sold in 2012 for €3.05 million.
Now, number 15, the corner house on this Crampton-built enclave is for sale with Lisney and, considering the prices for its neighbours, the tag of €2.25 million seems competitive, especially given its proximity to Herbert Park and the city centre.
The house has been in the owners’ family since 1952, and clearly is a well-loved home, but it’s likely new buyers will want to put their own stamp on it. As the owners, brothers Don and Paul Griffin’s parents got older and the family moved on, they remained themselves, and so they cleverly divided the house, creating a downstairs apartment, complete with kitchen, bedroom and bathroom at garden level, and added another kitchen upstairs, where there are two further bedrooms, and a gorgeous front-to-back drawing room.
With 234sq m (2,519sq ft) to play with, there’s lots of scope to get at least four, perhaps five bedrooms, including in the very charming third floor space with its sloping eaves. Number five did this very successfully. There is a sun room at the back, but as neighbouring houses will attest, new buyers could extend the house further.
Original features
The house retains most of its original features, Cramptons being renowned for their high-quality workmanship, so while some of the fireplaces are missing, there's a lovely one upstairs, plus a stained glass window on the carved Arts and Crafts-style staircase. Don Griffin's wonderful paintings and drawings of horses adorn the walls throughout – he sells at auction and sometimes privately. His uncle, Bob Griffin, was Vincent O'Brien's vet, and Don grew up learning to draw these beautiful animals.
As it’s the corner house, some rooms have a dual aspect, and there’s a sweet original garage at the end of the garden, complete with huge sliding bolt that Paul remembers drawing back to reveal his father’s beloved MG every day as a child. There’s also a pair of beech trees – a mistake, says Don. “My mother was from Austria, and she had asked Dad for a pair of peach trees. He mistook her accent . . .” You might be waiting a long time for fruit, but in the meantime there’s a very fine house to enjoy.
