TV "starchitect" Dermot Bannon is probably the hottest property on RTÉ right now as his Room to Improve show – currently in its 11th season – is attracting Sunday evening viewers in their droves.
Now the makeover maestro with the boy-next-door charm is planning a domestic upheaval of his own as he puts his north Dublin home of 12 years up for sale.
Bannon, along with wife Louise and their three young children, are putting their 1920s three-bed home at 21 Bantry Road, on the market for €649,000 through estate agent Ciarán Jones of DNG.
Bannon, a Malahide native, has said in the past his dream would be a self-built home by the sea, but it looks like the dream is on hold for a little longer as the family plans to remain in the area having recently purchased a larger property very close to Bantry Road.
Clearly this northside suburb is close to the Bannons' hearts as they previously bought and sold a Drumcondra house prior to moving to Bantry Road in 2005.
Purchased during the property boom and in relatively poor repair, Bannon has said Bantry Road was never their dream home, but they have since maximised the modest 123sq m property by taking advantage of its 65m long southwest facing garden and adding, of course, one of Bannon’s own trademark extensions to the rear.
The open plan kitchen/living/dining area, with floor to ceiling glazed windows and doors out to the garden, is not dissimilar to the contemporary designs frequently revealed by Bannon at the end of his RTÉ One property show, albeit on a slightly smaller scale.
The Bantry Road house is a somewhat restricted property in terms of space, and the improvements made have clearly been done to accommodate functional family living, rather than some of the aesthetic flights of fancy Bannon likes to include in his TV designs.
Perhaps the new Drumcondra home will provide Bannon with a blank canvas to fully express his design ambitions, hopefully without any nasty budget over-runs or admonishing quantity surveyors to come along and spoil the party. Now there's a Room To Improve episode we would all tune in for.
Full property listing at www.myhome.ie/4208197
