Some villa-style homes are surprisingly spacious and, with 161sq m (1,732sq ft) number 33 Tritonville Road, the gateway to Sandymount, fits this bill.
The house has lofty ceilings, is full of light, and is walk-in condition.
Set well back from the road, it’s a gracious terraced house that has plenty of off-street parking and granite steps leading up to its Bristol blue-painted front door. Inside there’s a hall and arch where ceiling heights exceed 3.1m. The timber floors are stained a dark walnut and the interconnecting reception rooms are to the left.
There’s a smart dining room to the front, its window framing the landmark Poolbeg towers, a talking point at dinner parties when its hazard lights glow red. It’s the Dublin equivalent of having a view of the Eiffel Tower.
In the sitting room a wood-burning stove has been set into the fireplace to maintain it as a focal point and from the window you can see the clematis-clad boundary wall.
The owners bought the property in 2006 and did a smart thing. Instead of doing a refurbishment, they lived in it for a few years “to figure out the layout and what to do”, the owner recalls.
The kitchen was already on the return. They had toyed with the idea of putting it downstairs where it would open directly into the garden but the social pair didn’t want to have to run up and down stairs when entertaining guests in the dining room, where magenta velour seats surround the table.
Instead, they reimagined the eat-in space, and refurbishment started in 2011. They wanted a white kitchen and hired Woodale Design to custom make the soft-white units that run along either side of the room. Topped with Silestone countertops, it still looks smart and crisp, a decade on from the refurbishment.
The real point of interest here is the addition of a terrace to the eat-in area so that it opens directly to the outdoors via large sliding glass doors.
Extending to about 8sq m, the terrace is a fantastic place to soak up the morning or evening sun, and is not overlooked. From its south-west aspect you can see the lawned garden below which has mature planting along its granite boundary walls. These include a mimosa tree whose yellow flowers herald the start of spring, laurel and bay hedging, hydrangea, lavender and lawn underfoot. It measures about 17m from the end of the house to the back wall, where there is a small cut-stone shed.
The garden can be accessed via a side door from the kitchen where a set of steps lead directly down to it.
Downstairs, where the ceiling heights are still good, at about 2.7m, there are three double bedrooms. The main bedroom is at the back, and enjoys a large and en suite bathroom with twin sinks and a sizeable shower stall to recreate that hotel feeling, the owners explain.
There is a utility room, which keeps all the noisy appliances out of the kitchen and from which there is direct access outside via a side door. Also at this level are a full family bathroom with shower over the bath, and another fine surprise is the gorgeous dual-aspect room at the back. This overlooks the garden and has direct access to a patio and to the green space. This is currently used as a home office. It might just be the nicest room in the house, which has a C2 Ber and is seeking €1.35 million through Bennetts in Sandymount.
