A Victorian redbrick tucked into the corner of this square behind the Aviva Stadium in Dublin 4 has been a happy family home for the past 25 years. The couple who bought the house in 1992, now with two teenagers, need more downstairs living space. Number 33 Havelock Square, a 111sq m (1,200sq ft) terraced two-storey three-bed, is for sale through Sherry FitzGerald for €750,000.
The current owners have upgraded and extended the house over the years and it combines period and modern features nicely. The interconnecting sittingroom and livingroom, like the entrance hall, are timber-floored and painted in neutral shades. The sittingroom has a cast-iron open fireplace and the livingroom, through a square arch, has a wood-burning stove in its fireplace and an alcove bookcase.
A step down through another arch opens into the compact kitchen/diningroom with a tiled floor: the kitchen, with its Rangemaster oven, was installed seven years ago. Double doors from the dining area open into a small landscaped back garden with raised flowerbeds. A washing machine and freezer are tucked into space under the hall stairs.
Upstairs, there’s a good-sized partly-tiled family bathroom with a bath and shower and a small separate toilet. Two bedrooms are modest-sized doubles and there’s one single. There is on-street parking at the front of the house.
The far end of Havelock Square, a secluded spot off Bath Avenue with a landscaped green space at its centre, is dominated by the surreal sight of the Lansdowne Road stadium looming like a giant spaceship behind it. Number 33 is in a corner at the opposite end, not directly facing the stadium. On match days, gardaí are posted at the top of the square, its owner says. There are just 40 houses on the square, where residents organise street parties and watch out for each other, the owner adds.
You can even read about life there in writer Kathleen McMahon's novel Long Hot Summer. McMahon's slightly larger four-bed next door went on the market in November for €850,000.
