Address: 30 Oaklands Park, Sandymount, Dublin 4
Price: €1,750,000
Agent: DNG
View this property on MyHome.ie
Though the attributes “tall, bright and handsome” might sound like the notion of a perfect partner, in the case of properties on Oaklands Park in Sandymount, they are a well-fitting architectural description of the lofty Edwardian homes that run in a meandering loop off Serpentine Avenue in Sandymount.
Set well back from the bustle of Ballsbridge, Oaklands Park, which dates from 1907, is a quiet residential area a short stroll from schools including Star of the Sea and St Matthew’s. Sandymount Dart station is just a five-minute walk away for journeys further afield.
Number 30 Oaklands Park, extending to 200sq m (2,153sq ft), has just launched to the market through DNG seeking €1.75 million. The redbrick was purchased by its current owners in 2005, when it was laid out as four flats.
Front hall 
Hidden storage and a loo lie behind a panelled wall in the extension 
Extension has terrazzo flooring and a nook to the left of the image to accommodate a piano 
Bulthaup kitchen 
Front reception room 
Reception room two now leads to a small inner courtyard that also brings light to the kitchen
Engaging Eden Architects, the family set about reinstating the property back into a five-bedroom home. They added an extension to the rear, which retained a side passage to the garden. Then, in 2016, the property underwent a second incarnation when, again under the guidance of Eden Architects, a bright garden room was added to replace the original extension, but this time the side passage was incorporated into the design – now in the form of a courtyard accessed from the second reception room and now overlooked from – and hence adding light to – the kitchen and extension itself.
It’s a smart extension with lots of subtle details such as whitewashed brick walls that add texture, as do a line of smart panelled walls concealing a loo, storage lockers, a wine cave and an all-important projector station that casts on to a recessed – and hence concealed – screen in the opposite wall. The whole layout is so subtle that you would never think this room was otherwise used as a small cinema. Also, the built-in space under the clerestory window (opposite the dining table) is specially designed to accommodate an upright piano, flanked on either side by small desks where children could do homework.
The property has five bedrooms 
Rear garden 
Garden 
At the end of the garden a pedestrian gate has access to the Lansdowne Rugby grounds (former YMCA Cricket Club)
A Bulthaup kitchen offers similar hidden storage with integrated appliances, including undercounter freezers, dishwasher, ovens and a fridge, allowing the white waterfall countertop to be streamlined and clutter-free. Underfoot in the kitchen and garden extension is terrazzo flooring.
To the front, two fine-sized reception rooms have excellent period details in the form of intricate ceiling roses and coving, and readers should note that the family have moved most of their furniture from their home already, hence a bit of the unlived-in look about it.
Five bedrooms lie over the three floors above with three, including the en-suite principal, on the first floor, while occupants of bedrooms four and five will have the benefit of a floor and bathroom each. All four bathrooms were given an overhaul in the past three years. The property’s Ber is C3, an indication that much work has been done to improve its energy rating given its century-old existence.
Outside, to the front there is on-street parking, while to the rear the garden has had a recent spring clearing. But what is most interesting about this spot is the pedestrian gate to the rear. It leads to an access point to the six-acre former YMCA grounds, now owned by Lansdowne Rugby Club. Describing it as “a six-acre garden where someone else cuts the grass,” the owners say one of the things they really love about their home is how their children were so involved in local sports while growing up.
Many locals had feared that these six acres to the rear of this part of Oaklands Park (former YMCA Cricket Club grounds) were destined for residential development, but with the financial assistance of some kind benefactor to the tune of couple of million, they are now destined to remain in the sporting realm, and will be developed into a multi sports complex for the clubs, junior, mini and women’s rugby programmes. And for those currently watching the Six Nations, the property is only a 10-minute walk to the Aviva Stadium.
Houses on Oaklands Park tend to be homes for life due to the location and proximity to schools and sporting amenities. Another factor is the sense of community, which owners say was fantastic for their children growing up.