Upside-down living in Monkstown

The kitchen and reception rooms are on the first floor to take advantage of the sea views

Casa Tina, Albany Avenue, Monkstown, Co Dublin
Casa Tina, Albany Avenue, Monkstown, Co Dublin
This article is over 7 years old
Address: Casa Tina, Albany Avenue, Monkstown, Co Dublin
Price: €1
Agent: Sherry FitzGerald

A quirky house with unusual features down a lane off Albany Avenue in Monkstown, Co Dublin, could suit a well-heeled downsizer who has €1.15 million and perhaps up to another quarter million to revamp and refurbish it.

Folding double doors open into a large livingroom with a box bay window looking across Dublin Bay
Folding double doors open into a large livingroom with a box bay window looking across Dublin Bay

That's the kind of buyer agent Sherry FitzGerald has in mind for Casa Tina, a two/three-bedroom house built in 1918 in what was probably the coach-house of The Albany, the Regency villa in front.

The sea view from Casa Tina
The sea view from Casa Tina

Casa Tina is a very private 195.7sq m (2,106sq ft) property with sea views from the livingroom and a very sheltered formal garden behind high electronic gates. This is an executor sale of a home owned by one family for about 32 years and last renovated before the 1990s; although the décor is dated, the house looks comfortable and well-cared for.

The  front doors  open into a bright entrance hall with a tiled floor and a pitched glass ceiling over tiled stairs to the second floor
The front doors open into a bright entrance hall with a tiled floor and a pitched glass ceiling over tiled stairs to the second floor

It’s a house with an upside-down layout, with the bedrooms downstairs. The glass front doors of the house open into a bright entrance hall with a tiled floor and a pitched glass ceiling over tiled stairs to the second floor.

READ MORE

On the left of the hall on the ground floor is a room with a deep exercise pool: it’s not large – 2.1m (6.8ft) wide by 3m (9.8ft) long – but has jets you turn on to swim against the current.

On the ground floor is a room with a deep exercise pool
On the ground floor is a room with a deep exercise pool

The large main bedroom has a dressingroom, shower room, and a sitting area next to French doors that open onto the garden. A smaller double bedroom has an en suite and windows looking into the pool room. There’s another study that could be a single bedroom, an understairs utility room and a guest toilet.

Casa Tina has a very sheltered formal garden behind high electronic gates
Casa Tina has a very sheltered formal garden behind high electronic gates

The steep stairs to the second floor open directly into the diningroom, richly decorated with floral red wallpaper. On the right of the diningroom is a decent-sized kitchen with cream units and a small island.

The steep stairs to the second floor open directly into the diningroom, richly decorated with floral red wallpaper
The steep stairs to the second floor open directly into the diningroom, richly decorated with floral red wallpaper

Folding double doors open into a large livingroom with a box bay window looking across Dublin Bay, with doors opening onto a small balcony. A new mega-house being built on the corner of Albany Avenue and the coast road does not obstruct the view.

The property has sea views from the livingroom
The property has sea views from the livingroom

The small very sheltered Italianate garden has clipped hedges, shrubs, trees, a wooden pergola and plenty of seating areas. There is room to park in it as well as residents’ permit parking outside.

There are six houses on the lane off Albany Avenue where Casa Tina – named after a former owner – is located.

Frances O'Rourke

Frances O'Rourke

Frances O'Rourke, a contributor to The Irish Times, writes about homes and property