The artisan cottages of Stoneybatter proved popular in the early 2000s, and one boom and bust later it remains a great place to live. Niall Street is a line of single-storey artisan dwellings to the rear of St Gabriel’s National School.
Geraldine Hannigan bought into the area in 2006 when she purchased number 42, a 50sq m two bed artisan cottage which she upgraded, lived in for a while and now lets on AirBnB. Then in 2015 Hannigan and her partner Brian Griffin, a former electrician who now runs Dublin City Bike Tours, purchased the property next door, number 41, for €175,000 and completely transformed the 50 sq m space into a bright airy home.
The house opens into a small hall with a zebra-print clad stairs to the right. To the left is a small double bedroom, currently home to just a single bed.
The rest of the ground floor is open plan and leads through to a sitting room which is a great area with a vanilla-coloured wood-burning stove its flue clad in a matching shade of ceramic. On through is the kitchen, its units set in an L-shape with composite stone worktops and a periwinkle blue Rangemaster.
The design features floor-to-ceiling units because the name of the game is storage in Stoneybatter, Griffin says. And he’s right. Every centimetre counts. To this end the couple have opened the kitchen to its small back yard by installing tri-fold doors that sit flush with the wall and provide an extra metre and a half of depth.
Inspired by TV show Grand Designs, they installed an outdoor fire. "I thought it was decedent and I had to have one," she says. The fire doubles as a barbecue and has a full-size chimney to draw smoke away. The outdoor area is tiled in the same colour as the kitchen – a good idea, well executed.
The bathroom has a separate shower and a most unusual free-standing copper slipper bath. The couple used MKA Architects to help realise their ideas.
Upstairs is an attic room, just over six feet high, where the couple sleep. It has Velux windows with good views of the city, and access to a terrace area via a low-set Velux. This room however does not conform to building regulations, which strictly renders this house as a one-bed property for the purposes of sale.
It is however a masterclass in how to convert a tight 50 sq m – the size of a generous one-bedroom apartment – into a really cool liveable home.
Midway through refurbishment of number 41 Geraldine became pregnant and, now the proud parents of a 14-month-old boy, the couple have decided to move on. “What I really want is a garden. We are loathe to leave the area but it is tricky to find a house with a garden. Ideally we want one within 300 metres of this home.”
Number 41, covers 50 sq m with another 14sq m of attic room, and an impressive B2 Ber rating. It is asking €345,000 through agent DNG.
The couple is also selling their original home next door, number 42. This property has two double bedrooms, a small south-facing yard but none of the bells and whistles décor that make number 41 so appealing. This house, which has a D2 Ber rating and is also 50sq m in size, is also seeking €345,000.
Earlier this year number 44 came to market through Kelly Bradshaw Dalton asking €275,000. The end of terrace house had been refurbished and eventually sold for €308,000, according to the property price register.
