Period houses often have echoes of days past, and it’s not uncommon to see panels of bells in the basements of grand Victorian and Edwardian properties. It’s still something of a surprise to see working bells and a small maid’s room in this modest-sized house built in 1927.
The bells in the livingroom and diningroom of Resthaven, a 145sq m (1,559sq ft) three-bed split-level on the fringe of the Burnaby, were only used for fun by the children of the family who have lived here for 24 years. Now the owners are moving on, and Resthaven, on Hillside Road, Greystones, Co Wicklow, is for sale for €765,000 through Sherry FitzGerald.
New owners will likely want to refurbish and possibly extend the house at the back. Accommodation currently includes a livingroom and diningroom on either side of the front hall, both with tall timber fireplaces with tiled insets and timber floorboards, like much of the rest of the house.
Up a short flight of stairs are two bedrooms and a family bathroom. The kitchen is down a few steps at the back of the house, opening into a small seating area dubbed the boot room – which was probably the original maid’s room – that opens into the garden. There is also a small separate living quarters off the boot room, with a kitchenette and double bedroom opening into the back garden.
Open-plan area
New owners may well decide to extend and create a more open-plan area at the back of the house, opening onto the rear garden. There are outbuildings partly dividing the patio from the lawn, and new owners might take them down to enlarge the garden. A house built in the original back garden is on the far side of the back garden fence. There is good room for parking to the front.
Resthaven is a five to 10-minute walk from Greystones Dart station and the middle of town, and just on the other side of Kindlen Road from the Burnaby – though houses on this side of Hillside Road are included in the Burnaby residents’ association.
