A classic Victorian redbrick in Dublin’s embassy belt – up to six years ago it was the Argentinian ambassador’s residence – has been extended and refurbished since it was sold in 2012 for €2.5 million. No 9 Ailesbury Road now combines elaborate period features with smart modern style in a very large house. Since the Argentine ambassador left, the house – currently unfurnished – has been rented out for €15,000 per month.
The work on the semi-detached house, a protected structure, was handled by conservation architect Max O'Flaherty of Aughey O'Flaherty. No 9 Ailesbury Road, a 483sq m (5,200sq ft) five-bed, is for sale through Lisney seeking €5.75 million. The garden level, previously a warren of small rooms, has been transformed into a large, very modern space with a huge open-plan area, an en suite double bedroom, separate family bathroom and a sitting room with French windows opening into the garden.
The very long kitchen, living room and study running from the front to the back of the house is a standout feature: at the back, off the kitchen, five pairs of glazed concertina doors fold back to open on to the neat landscaped garden; a roof overhang shelters the patio outside.
At the front of the space, a long low oak desk was designed with children in mind, says agent David Bewley: the idea was that they could do their homework on computers under a parent’s watchful eye. Floor-to-ceiling oak filing cabinets line a wall behind the desk.
Upstairs are two very modern rooms in the extended side of the house: on the first floor, opposite the front door, there’s an oak-floored sitting room with an Iroko-framed picture window and a side window. A more-or-less matching room above it is a double bedroom off the first return with an en-suite shower room.
There are three very grand reception rooms with original cornicing and centre roses to the right of the front door. All are parquet floored. There are sliding double doors between the two principal rooms, both with white marble fireplaces; three tall sash windows overlook Ailesbury Road. A very wide arch with a new architrave opens into a third reception room at the back of the house, with a tall bay window looking over the rear garden towards the playing fields of St Michael’s College secondary school.
The luxurious fit-out of the en suite bedrooms – there are three more in the original part of the house upstairs, with floor-to-ceiling fitted oak wardrobes – is evident in the en suite off the main bedroom: oak-floored, it has two sinks in a very wide wash-stand and a free-standing oval bath.
The rear garden has raised flower borders and brick patio areas and there’s lots of room to park in the gravelled front garden.
There has been a lot of sales activity and major renovations on Ailesbury Road, one of Dublin's swankiest addresses, in recent years: No 34 was bought in July 2018 for €4.875 million by Icon chief executive Ciaran Murray, who then sold it for €4.96 million in December 2018. In April 2018, 25 Ailesbury Road sold for €4 million. No 70 Ailesbury Road, which sold for €2.25 million in 2016, was completely rebuilt and went for sale in June 2018 for €4.25 million. It's for sale through DNG for €3.95 million.
