Houses on Granville Road in Blackrock tend to be family homes for life, and this is evident in the fact that since the Property Price Register commenced – on January 1st, 2010 – only seven houses on the road have changed hands.
Lying on a quiet leafy avenue off the busy Newtown Park Avenue, which connects to Granville Park via Knocksinna Park, houses here are always in demand. Traditionally they were generous in size and sat on good-sized gardens.
For Ravenna, which occupies Number 13 Granville Road, the property sits on a generous site measuring 0.4 of an acre, which has the benefit of a southwesterly aspect. Set back off the road, and accessed through electric gates via a gravelled driveway, the property was given an entire overhaul and extension in 2001, under the guidance of architect Eamon Regan of Regan & Associates.
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It went from its original size of 240sq m (2,583sq ft) to 392sq m (4,219sq ft). In addition, there is a further 83sq m (888sq ft) in the attic space – currently used as a gym – that occupies the second floor along with a store room. This area is accessed by a full staircase.
In testament to Regan’s design, the property looks as good from the rear as it does from the front and despite its size, it never has that too big a feeling when rooms can feel overwhelmingly large.
Eyebrow window
Its double-height reception hall, with polished marble flooring, brings much light into the front of the property and its lovely eyebrow window brings light to the upstairs landing, as do a number of Veluxes that flood the attic with light.
On the ground floor, a dining room and family room straddle the front hall, both of which have bay windows. To the rear lies an eat-in kitchen with plenty of storage, a playroom/TV room and a very large drawing room. All three rooms have French doors that open out to a sunken sandstone patio which extends the full width of the house.
The kitchen/breakfastroom has a large Britannia stove with a six-ring hob, an American fridge and oodles of storage. The design of the house allows for entertaining on a grand scale, which the current owners have done on occasion.
“We have had 40 for lunch in the hall, and the fact that two sets of double doors open into the drawing rooms means there is a great flow,” says the owner, who is right-sizing due to an empty nest. In addition, the patio to the rear gets sun all day so offers a lovely space for entertaining on summer afternoons and evenings.
The owner loves the sense of space and light – the two things that Regan has really achieved with his design – and the fact that the rear garden is “permanently in sunshine”.
The garden, which has been used as a football pitch when the children of the house were young, has lots of potential for green-fingered enthusiasts due to its size and aspect.
The property, in turnkey condition, with five bedrooms and a Ber of B3, has now been launched by Lisney seeking €2.25m.
