There’s more than meets the eye at this extended three-bedroom semidetached home in Kimmage, Dublin 12. Architect Brian Guckian, director of bg-co, saw the property’s potential when he and his wife, Aoife McGuigan, bought the house as a dated two-up, two-down eight years ago.
The double-height extension to the rear, hardly visible from the front of the house, can be appreciated in all its glory from the back garden. So as not to block light from the neighbours on either side, the ground-floor extension slants to the right – facing south for the sun – while the upstairs extension slants to the left, like two boxes stacked askew, one on top of the other. It’s a cool feature to behold from outside, and also from inside each of the slanted rooms.
The gardens of the homes on Bangor Road are substantial, so even with the generous extension there is a good-sized garden laid in lawn with a wooden-decked patio and a pergola barbecue area. Inside, the living area that occupies the ground-floor extension not only gets natural light from the south-facing glazed back doors but from a west-facing window to the side, which catches the evening sun. The room has engineered-wood flooring and a wood-burning stove fitted into an alcove in the wall.
As you step towards the kitchen in the centre of the open-plan space, there is a roof light to allow in more light. The kitchen units – which Guckian had made to his specifications by a Lithuanian manufacturer – are finished in the moody shade of Farrow & Ball’s Green Smoke. A large block of exposed concrete tops the central island over which hangs a copper light feature.
Pocket doors slide open to the dining area to the front of the house, now more often used as a home office for the owners, where the original fireplace makes a nice feature.
Back in the kitchen, unexpectedly, as well as floor-to-ceiling cabinets in the same deep green hue on the side wall of the kitchen, there is also a hidden door which leads to a utility space and back to a bathroom with a bath. There is also an exterior door here to the front yard.
Upstairs, the main bedroom sits to the front with an original fireplace and plenty of space for wardrobes on each wall. The second double occupies the rear extension, which Guckian says could equally be chosen as the main bedroom.
The third bedroom between the two is a good size, as is the wet room, also off the central hallway, which features a shower with a high ceiling and a roof light to the sky.
The property, now extending to 102sq m (1,098sq ft) with a B3 Ber, has a smooth-plaster exterior with steps leading up to the blue front door. There is plenty of space in the front yard to park two cars. The turnkey home is now on the market through DNG, seeking €595,000.
It is just down the road from the local shops, restaurants and pubs, including Pickles sandwich shop, Montos cafe, Artybaker, Zero Zero Pizza and Supervalu. This is also where you can get a bus to the city centre that takes 20-30 minutes, while cycling will get you to St Stephen’s Green in about 15 minutes.
