A five-minute walk from Howth village, St Peter’s Terrace is an sloping street of artisan cottages. Most of the properties have been upgraded over the years with many residents adding a porch to keep the wind out and some plastering over the brickwork surrounding the door and windows to the front.
Number 78 is one such property. The three-bedroom terraced house was purchased by its current owners in November 2012 for €290,000, according to the property price register, and they have made changes to its layout and flow to help bring light in.
The porch gives space to drop shopping or school bags as the original entrance hall is rather small. The first of its three bedrooms is to the left.
The living room, with open fire and room for several squishy sofas, is on the right. You can see the thickness of the 19th-century walls in the window surround and the room has decent ceiling heights although this has been dropped slightly. The second of the three bedrooms is off this and it is where the original part of the house ended.
The footprint has been extended to double its size, providing room for a roomy master bedroom accessed off an inner hall that has cottage-style tongue and groove wainscoting.
Gorgeous kitchen
The master has a large, modern shower ensuite bathroom where there is a generous shower stall and natural light.
To the rear is the kitchen, a gorgeous space that spans the width of the house and frames the sizeable garden in its large picture windows.
Its units have been painted avocado green that helps to pick up the pattern of the tiled floor underfoot. There are dark timber countertops that work in an on-trend way with the green and banquette seating with storage secreted under its upholstered seats. This makes really good use of the space and includes a really clever drawer concealed underneath that has two holes cut out into which you can insert a dog’s dry food and water bowls. Above the table are niches where you can put cook books and decorative crockery.
The utility is housed in a lean-to room off the kitchen with a sloping glass roof.
Olive trees
The garden is impressive and where the most significant change in this property can be seen. Set out in lawn, it has been planted by its owner, a member of the horticultural society of Howth and Sutton, with olive trees and a Japanese acer as well as foxgloves, hostus, lilies and ferns. A granite path leads from the north-facing rear to a contemporary Shomera that the owners installed.
Clad in cedarwood it has been set up as a self-contained office and boasts a covered southwest facing deck where the family likes to barbecue. There is also a shed for bike storage and pedestrian rear access to a lane.
The property, measuring 89sq m/957sq ft with almost another 20sq m/215sq ft of garden room, is seeking €495,000 through agent Gallagher Quigley.
Number 91, a three-bedroom property of 68sq m, on the same side of the street but with a smaller garden, sold last month for €435,000.
