“This is a very happy home,” say the owners of 26 Elgin Road, sitting in front of the marble fireplace in the livingroom. The couple’s old boxer dog, who has lived here her whole life, wags her tail in agreement. When they bought this five-bedroom terrace, say the owners, it was divided into several flats, but the original features were still intact – although it took a lot of elbow grease to scrape the Dulux off the cornices and ceiling roses.
The work was all worth it, though, and number 26 is a fine period residence that is filled with tasteful touches – such as the gorgeous free-standing copper bath in the luxuriously appointed bathroom on the first return, which is decorated in a bronzed African savannah style that gives it a warm, sensual feel.
The house sits in an imposing terrace of tall Victorian houses on Elgin Road, just behind the US embassy, and the first thing you notice is how quiet it is despite being in the heart of busy Ballsbridge. “Even when there’s a match on in the Aviva, or a concert, you don’t see much traffic or crowds on this street,” says the owner. For them, the house offers the perfect balance of peaceful old-world elegance and vibrant city living.
The front garden is behind wrought-iron gates, and is framed by topiary bay trees and clipped box, with a gravelled area that can fit two large cars or three city runabouts. Granite steps lead up to an arched entrance flanked by Doric columns, and you can see that the brickwork on the front of the house has been intricately repointed. The owners also put a cast-iron drainpipe down the boundary line to the next house, and restored the roof with Blue Bangor slates.
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A large entrance hall with marble-tiled floors leads into a wonderful, connected living space, with a luxuriant livingroom to the front, and the kitchen where the original diningroom would have been. This leads out to a lovely sunroom/diningroom extension with an atrium roof, which in turn leads out to a fabulous outdoor terrace with wooden floors and wrought-iron railings, looking out on to the well-manicured back garden, with low-maintenance artificial grass and specimen trees and shrubs, and over the south city.
On the first floor is where the party really starts, with a full-width diningroom that can accommodate a large number of guests – and still leave room for a grand piano. This opens out to a large drawingroom to the back, making for the ideal entertaining space. Both rooms have their original marble mantles and more of that intricate ceiling cornicing. If you can’t get Paul Harrington in to entertain your guests on the piano, don’t worry – the owners are music lovers who have wired up the house for smart sound, so you just have to set up your speaker and play music through your phone.
The principal bedroom on the second floor is magnificent, running the width of the house, and looking across leafy Elgin Road to St Bartholomew’s Church. There’s a large walk-in wardrobe and a huge bathroom with a free-standing bath and rainforest shower. There are two more double bedrooms upstairs, one with an en suite shower room.
The garden-level area is in use as a medical practice, and has separate access from the front. This comprises a reception area, a tiled hall/waiting area with a feature stone wall, and two large rooms to the front and back, with a spacious bathroom. If a new owner wanted to run a business here, everything is in place. There’s also a self-contained one-bedroom apartment to the rear, which can be used as a granny flat, accommodation for an au pair or accommodation for a student. All of this can easily be incorporated back into the main house.
Number 26 Elgin Road, Ballsbridge, is Ber exempt, extends to 470sq m (5,062sq ft), and is for sale through Knight Frank, asking €3.75 million.
