The owner of this Pleasants Place pad believes an Irish family member inspired the hero from ‘Ulysses’
Asking Price: €495,000
Contact: Felicity Fox (01) 633 4431
There has been much speculation over the decades about who inspired Joyce to create his character Leopold Bloom, the protagonist of Ulysses. The many theories include a businessmen Joyce knew in Trieste, a Dublin politician of the day and even a man who came to Joyce after he was beaten up in the street for approaching a jealous man’s female partner.
But Seattle-born mother of two Tana Kaplan Gray has another theory entirely. That the bold Leopold was her great-grand-uncle.
When Kaplan Gray first came to view Apartment 4, The Daintree off Camden Street, she and her now husband fell for it immediately. “The eco-friendly aspect was part of the package that attracted us,” says the home working mum of two. “But I was also drawn to the location.”
The site was significant as her grandmother, a Jewish woman called Deborah Spiro, who later married a Bloom, had grown up around the corner in a house on Clanbrassil Street. “For me, it was the closing of a full circle moment,” Kaplan Gray says. “My grandmother was part of the Jewish community here and I could walk past the house in which she’d lived. She attended Trinity College in the 1930s and studied medicine there.”
Apartment owner Tana Kaplan Gray. Photo: Barbara McCarthy
In fact, family legend has it that the character of Bloom in James Joyce’s 1922 novel was based on either one of her grandmother’s two uncles, Charles or Abram Spiro, who also lived locally.
Kaplan Gray and her husband Stuart, who works in tech, had met in Trinity College after she moved here from Seattle in her second year to study English literature, and the 623sq ft apartment was their first property together. “We were excited to move in,” she recalls. “We were still in our mid- to late-20s and it was a fun time in our lives.”
The open-plan living space
The apartment is one of eight residential units in Daintree, which is an award-winning sustainable building complex, off Pleasants Street and renowned for its progressive outlook and natural wood theme. Eco-friendly architecture has grown in popularity, but there was nothing like it in Dublin at the time.
Daintree was the work of architects Brian O’Brian and Mike Haslam of Solearth Architecture, who – despite just having started off in their architecture careers – were tasked with the project in 2004 by Paul Barnes, the owner of Daintree Paper, a former paper craft and stationary shop on Camden Street, which is now The Lost Bookshop. Their remit was to create a tranquil space for both businesses and living and that would “smell like baking bread”.
The open-plan kitchen
The structure was, in fact, one of the first modern multi-storey eco buildings in Dublin and contained a large amount of low-emission, green features. Both the structure and the finish of the building are made of timber and rendered with lime and copper.
The insulation, for example, is made from sheep’s wool and there are solar thermal panels which allow the water to be heated by the sun. A geo-thermal heating system, and the first large-scale heat pumps in Dublin, were installed. The pump had three different bore holes and went down 500-metres deep into the ground to bring up the heat. The building has a low energy A3 heat rating as a result.
Bedroom
“We loved the fact that we had on-demand hot water and heating because of the heating system,” says Kaplan Gray. “And even having glass recycling on site was novel at the time.”
When it came to designing the residential units, O’Brien and Haslam attempted to have as much height and to bring in as much light as possible, and to make the most of the south-facing views. “It’s an airy, light-filled space with big windows and a balcony,” says Kaplan Gray. “I loved the feeling of openness in the apartment, but it could also be cosy in the winter. You could come into it and just shut out the outside world. It felt peaceful and comforting.”
Brian O’Brien of Solearth Architecture
The pristine white and cream walls throughout and the white kitchen with its wood and granite countertops, add to the feeling of space. The furnishings are simple and modern like the two-seater grey couch and the white armchair in the living space.
The main bedroom has a large walk-in wardrobe, while the second bedroom is a comfortable small double, which could alternatively be used as a guest room or an office.
The front entrance
The finishings are top of the range throughout. Reclaimed wooden floorboards were used in the open-plan kitchen/living space. “The kitchen was beautiful and nicer than the cookie cutter developments of the time,” says Kaplan Gray. “In fact, the apartment was designed so well that we didn’t need to change anything and it has been very easy to maintain.”
The Daintree courtyard, below the apartments, has an award-winning landscaped garden, designed by Robert Heslip, and is surrounded by bamboo walls. Beside it and underneath it sits the popular Cake Café. “It’s like an urban oasis,” says Kaplan Gray. “When I was pregnant and used to get hungry, I’d often pop down to the Cake Cafe for a slice of cake. Sometimes they’d offer me half the entire cake and ask me to bring the plate back the following day,” she laughs.
The exterior of the apartment
“The staff were lovely,” she adds. “Despite the fact that it was in the middle of a city, the whole complex was a friendly community and we sometimes attended gatherings in the courtyard.
The couple moved to Rathgar in 2011 as they were planning to expand their family, and the apartment has been rented out since then.
They’re selling it now, however, as they no longer want to be landlords. “It was never part of the plan, but we were attached to it and didn’t want to sell it,” she says. “But we’re ready to let it go now.”
Its location is ideal for anyone attracted to city living. “You can walk to Grafton Street or Stephen’s Green in less than five minutes, and all the amenities you need are right on your doorstep.”
She’s feeling nostalgic about selling it. “I’m expecting to feel sad once it’s sold,” she says. “It’s hard not to get attached to a place that you’ve been happy in.”
Felicity Fox seeks €495,000.