Dublin 8's Portobello has been having a moment for a long time now. Not that the area's ever been out of fashion since emerging, early in the 19th century, as a fast-growing suburb. Ovoca Road is at the South Circular Road end of Portobello, a quiet street of villa-style redbricks built as the 1800s came to an end, all of them with small, railed front gardens and, usually, respectably sized rear gardens. Number 14 fits the mould, as well as doing the street proud with a liveable, light-filled interior that uses every inch of space and shows off original features.
The vendors, selling after 16 good years in number 14, say the street has changed over the years, become more community orientated and holds street parties in summertime. They put a lot of “repair work” into the house – roofing, heating, skimming walls – and built a block shed at the end of the garden that makes a bright, efficient, insulated, functioning home office with WC and velux windows.
New sash windows
0 of 4
They were careful to preserve original features such as doors, mouldings, bannisters and shutters, and they put in new sash windows. All of this, together with a predominant white the colour everywhere, makes for a light-filled home with a lighthearted feel to it.
The vendors paid €475,000 for number 14 in 2002. Agent Sherry FitzGerald is today asking €675,000 for a home with two bedrooms, family bathroom, drawingroom, diningroom and kitchen in a floor area of 86sq m (925.6sq ft).
Both bedrooms, to the rear off the small landing, have velux and sash windows. The drawingroom, to the front on the hall floor, has all the trappings of its time: sash window with working shutters, high ceiling, polished timber floor and panelled doors. The fireplace is period-style in cast iron, and shelves fill the walls to either side.
Separate diningroom
To the rear of the house, and a few steps lower, the happily separate diningroom also has a timber floor, period cast-iron fireplace and sash window – this last overlooking the patio and garden. A door leads to the galley-style kitchen where worktops are wooden and the floor tiled.
A glass-panelled door leads to the patio and raised lawn of the garden, where there is a magnolia tree and creepers waiting to bud along the wall. The office/shed gives onto a pedestrian laneway with spaces for bins and more.
