Flanked by the sort of house you’d expect on Grosvenor Road – a substantial early Victorian – are two detached 1920s redbricks, numbers 1a and 2a. Two storey with distinctive windows they are identical and were in all likelihood built in the side gardens of that big house a century ago.
When the owner of number 2a bought in 2005 – moving closer to town from Rathfarnham – the three-bed house had long been a student let, not uncommon in the Rathmines area.
She renovated and extended, building to the rear to create a large eat-in kitchen, installing a rooflight and glazed doors and side panels to bring the light in and enhance the spacious feel.
To the front there’s a reception room with three windows overlooking the garden and a dining room with double doors opening into the kitchen. Upstairs there are three bedrooms, two doubles and a single which unsurprisingly – and in keeping with the emerging trend – is now fitted out as a home office. The bathroom, like the rest of the house, has been upgraded and smartly decorated.
Recent updates include new windows – designed to match the original – and the landscaping of the sunny front garden, now with a granite path and artificial grass, installed as a practical play area. To the rear – there is a side passage from the front – is a gravelled patio and over the wall are the playing fields of St Louis High School, an all-girls secondary school.
As part of the 2005 renovation, the owner received planning permission (now lapsed) to create off-street parking in the front garden but she thought better of it and decided to keep the garden and the pretty pedestrian gate set into pillars.
New owners might think differently but she says there is never a problem finding a parking spot on the road, and in any case she says she rarely needs to use the car as the house is a very short walk to the shops and many amenities in Rathmines.
Now married and with one child, the owner is moving on but hoping to stay in the area since they have become so used to the convenience of the location.
With a D2 energy rating and 129sq m (1,389sqft), 2A Grosvenor Rd, is for sale through Sherry FitzGerald seeking €915,000
