Number 59 Eglinton Road has been home to the same family for just short of four decades, and it’s not difficult to see why.
Its convenient location, close to Dublin city centre and the villages of Donnybrook and Ranelagh, has long been a draw.
Its proximity to reputable schools is also part of the attraction. Gonzaga College, Alexandra College, Sandford Park and Muckross Park are all within walking distance while University College Dublin and Trinity College are a short bus ride away.
Houses on Eglinton Road, which, along with Shrewsbury Road, has some of Dublin’s largest, vary in style from vast two storey over basement piles to more modest pre-war homes.
Number 59 is a fine detached house extending to a generous 305sq m (3,283sq ft). Set over two levels, it has been well cared for by its current owners and retains many of its original features such as ornate ironwork on the front door, stained glass windows, marble chimney pieces, pitch-pine flooring and ornate architraves.
Up a set of granite steps – where a swathe of Chinese wisteria gives bursts of purple from April to June – leads to an impressive hallway, which has incredible stained glass in the front door.
This gives access to two rather fine reception rooms: a drawingroom and interconnecting diningroom. Both rooms are bathed in light thanks to a large bay window in the drawingroom and an equally large picture window in the diningroom that offer views of what has been a great labour of love for the family who live here: their gardens.
Thanks to its double frontage, the property also has a livingroom overlooking the front garden while a large kitchen/breakfastroom extension was added to the rear in 2010.
Also on this level is a cloakroom, a utility room and a hot press. Four bedrooms lie on the first floor, one of which is en suite while the principal has a fine bay window to match that of the drawingroom downstairs, and a fifth bedroom lies on the return.
The gardens will be one of the real selling points as they are an outstanding feature of the property. Not only do they offer a high degree of privacy, they also house a large variety of now mature plants and shrubs including a majestic magnolia to the front and a mammoth California lilac plant in the rear, which adds colour, as does an apple blossom.
Half way down the garden is a paved patio which creates a natural divide and a place for sundowners, while at the end of the garden lies a garage allowing for vehicular access and all important off-street parking.
This property, with a D2 Ber, has excellent original features, impressive gardens and well-proportioned accommodation, which new owners may want to update in parts (the kitchen, for example, is 13 years old).
Number 59 is now on the market through Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty, seeking €2.85 million.
