Address: 5 St James Terrace, Clonskeagh Road, Dublin 6
Price: €5,250,000
Agent: Lisney Sotheby’s Ballsbridge
View this property on MyHome.ie
The mahogany piano at 5 St James Terrace doesn’t get much use, according to its owner, travel entrepreneur Bob Haugh, but it’s almost inconceivable that it would have sat unplayed when the home was rented by none other than Taylor Swift in the summer of 2021.
Swift was likely drawn to Dublin at the time because her then boyfriend, British actor Joe Alwyn, was in Ireland filming the TV adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Conversations with Friends. It is believed to have been during the same trip that Swift visited Wicklow, which she references in the dreamy love song Sweet Nothing, on her album Midnights.
Swift was likely drawn to Dublin because her then boyfriend, British actor Joe Alwyn, was in Ireland filming Sally Rooney’s Conversations with Friends
So how did one of the biggest pop stars in the world end up renting the Haugh family’s immaculately presented Dublin 6 home? It came about when a friend of Bob Haugh, who has links to the music business, asked if he could take a video of their converted coach house for a potential rental. He later came back to ask if they would rent out the family home as well, and with the Haughs spending a lot of the summer abroad, it suited them to agree.
It wasn’t until then that Haugh learned who the musician who would be occupying the home would be, and so he took pains to have their piano tuned in anticipation of her arrival.
Swift was clearly grateful to the family for making their property available for her and her team, as she left them a signed black-and-white photo of her running from the lens in a meadow, an image from her Folklore era, with the message: “To the Haugh family, Thank you for welcoming us into your beautiful home. Sending love and gratitude to you all! Love, Taylor.”
The Haughs purchased the home about 20 years ago when it was in poor repair. It had been divided into separate spaces, with partition walls damaging some of the original mouldings. Many of the original features, including incredibly detailed cornicing, ceiling roses and architraves, were painstakingly restored as part of a full renovation undertaken before the owners moved in. They engaged architects de Blacam and Meagher to redesign the home for contemporary family life while adhering to its period layout.
It is no surprise as to why 5 St James Terrace attracted Swift (or whoever organises her travel arrangements); it seamlessly blends old-world character with sophisticated, contemporary style. With the owners now undertaking a self-build project nearby, they are placing this impressive showgirl-approved five-bed home on the market with Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty Ballsbridge, with an asking price of €5.25 million.
The row of period homes on St James Terrace is set back from Clonskeagh Road in Dublin 6, adjacent to Milltown Park and a 15-minute walk from Ranelagh village. Number 5 is a two-storey-over-garden-level home, extending to 375sq m (4,036sq ft), with a gravelled driveway accessed by electric gates.
If you enter the house up the granite steps and through the front door, you arrive into a rectangular entrance hallway. The showstopping interconnecting reception rooms are located to the left. The one to the front is home to the piano, placed by one of the windows overlooking the terrace. The space exudes comfort and luxury, with high ceilings adorned by elaborate cornicing and a chandelier, and substantial black velvet sofa and chairs that you could happily sink in to while a certain songstress serenaded you with a tune.
Message left by Taylor Swift 
Kohler and Campbell piano 
Entrance hallway 
Archway and ceiling rose
Stepping through to the rear reception room, your eye is drawn to the landscaped garden, designed by Paul Doyle, framed by a substantial sash window. Doyle won a gold medal at Bloom for the design, before it was transported and planted on a larger scale here on Clonskeagh Road, Haugh explains. A period marble fireplace adds character to the room while the Guggi painting above it brings a contemporary flavour.
There is also a guest loo and a spacious double bedroom overlooking the garden at hall level.
The first floor is home to a bathroom and three generously proportioned double bedrooms, including the main suite to the front, which features a walk-through dressingroom leading to a spacious en suite with twin sinks.
Down on the garden level is a well-laid-out living space with comfortable livingroom to the front and a kitchen at the centre; this flows into the bright dining area to the rear which offers panoramic views of the garden. The garden is about 44m (144ft) long and features a manicured lawn with a border of plants and trees, including cherry blossoms and mulberries.
A utility room, guest WC and an en suite room complete the garden level and there is also convenient side access here from the inner hallway.
Outside, a gravelled pathway leads through the garden to the coach house property, which extends to 123sq m (1,323sq ft). It was renovated about 10 years ago to create a stylish, comfortable property, comprising an open-plan kitchen/living space featuring Crittall-style doors and a diningroom with a spiral staircase leading to a mezzanine level, which can be used as an additional bedroom. There is also a spacious double bedroom on the first floor, complete with an en suite shower room.
It will now be possible for a new family to enjoy the home that has served the Haughs and indeed, pop royalty, so well.
Reception room entrance 
Rear reception room overlooking the garden 
Marble fireplace 
Ceiling detail 
Front reception room with piano 
Livingroom 
Kitchen 
Diningroom 
Main bedroom 
Walk-through dressingroom 
En suite bathroom 
5 Saint James Terrace 
Patio 
Gated coach house sits to the rear of the garden 
Couch house: living space 
Coach house: mezzanine