With an increased emphasis on homes with good outside space, No 62 Newgrange Road in Cabra, Dublin 7 will tick a lot of buyers’ boxes. When Síle Denvir, a harpist and sean nós singer, bought it in 2015 she liked the fact that it had a huge garden that extended to 100 feet and that it had the detached rooms outside that were used by a previous owner.
Otherwise the end-of-terrace house, then a three-bed, was relatively modest. She paid €257,500 for it, according to the property price register. But bringing in architect Tom O’Brien, a designer who keeps a low profile and lets his work do the proverbial talking, to reconfigure it has transformed it into a light-filled home set out in a broken-plan configuration.
Not long after, she met musician and artist Barry Kerr at the wedding of friends Niamh Dunne and Sean Óg Graham of Beoga, and he promptly moved in. His works now adorn many of the house’s walls.
Suite
With both of them working from home, the extension of the livingroom to include a suite that can be closed off from the large eat-in kitchen allows both Síle and Barry to work without disturbing each other. The addition of soundproofing to the party wall also allows Síle to work on compositions downstairs without driving the neighbours mad.
Taking pride of place in the lounge is the original arts-and-crafts fire surround that has been given a new lease of life by painting it a blue grey.
Clad in redbrick, the kitchen is accessed via a utility area, while its white goods are hidden behind cupboard doors. The shelving, which holds laundry baskets and detergents, is accessed via a pull-up roller door, a clever small space solution.
Breakfast area
The kitchen has simple white units and is bisected by an island to create a breakfast area. It has sage-green glazing by Carlson on its two sides, and opens out to a suntrap which was created by knocking down one of the two sewing rooms to give them a courtyard that links the main house to a detached studio. Kerr has set up residence in the studio. This room could quite easily be converted for use as a bedroom for a teenager, giving them a degree of independence.
Upstairs there are now two good-size double bedrooms. The main bedroom has a dressing room and there is a sizeable bathroom that occupies the original third bedroom, giving space for a bath and separate shower.
Now a fine-sized home that extends to 101sq m (1,087sq ft), the house has a C1 Ber rating and is asking €450,000 through agents DNG.
