When the then newly-wed vendors bought 67 Coolnevaun 17 years ago they did a “cosmetic” job.
Twelve years later they upped the ante and carried out a complete remodel, taking off the roof and reducing the house to a “building site”. Today’s house is quite different to its neighbours in this leafy, quiet-cornered end of Coolnevaun in Stillorgan, Dublin.
The hall is bigger because the outer porch has been integrated; a large extension across the rear has added a light-filled kitchen and dining area; what was once a garage is now a ground-floor playroom with bedroom overhead; the main bedroom is en suite; an attic conversion has become a den/study; and solar roof panels power hot water from May to September.
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The vendors wanted light, space, simplicity and a relaxed mood in the house. They also wanted to use natural materials.
With the help of architect Noel O'Dwyer of Node Architecture and interior designer Helen Turkington they have the house they dreamed of and, now parents to three boys, are moving on "to the next project".
Porthole
The couple bought number 67 for around £270,000 in 1999. Agent Sherry FitzGerald is asking €845,000 for today's private treaty sale.
The floor space covers 190.3sq m (2,053sq ft), the converted attic adds 29.3sq m (315sq ft). There are four bedrooms (the main en suite), an open-plan kitchen/dining/family area, sittingroom, bathroom and large utility.
The kitchen/dining area gets light in diversity: from a porthole in the kitchen and lantern-style pitched glass overhead, to a pair of glass French doors to the garden, and three Velux windows and a clever inset strip of glass in a corner. The floor is in natural stone and the worktops are polished black granite.
The floors in the family area and sittingroom are of limed oak and both have sandstone fireplaces. The front facing sittingroom has a deep box window. The playroom, on this ground floor, has a lot of practical, cubed shelving and another box window.
The main bedroom, to the rear, has an en suite in natural stone with a large, walk-in shower. The family bathroom, originally a bedroom, is also in natural stone with another walk-in shower and separate bath. There is any amount of eaves storage in the converted attic and windows giving views to Howth and the bay.
The rear garden is sheltered and “good for family occasions”, the vendors say. It has a patio; shed; high, dense hedging and bamboo. There is parking in the front, pebbled garden.
