A terraced four-bedroom house at 24 Belgrave Square in Monkstown, Co Dublin is for sale at £700,000 (889,000) through Jackson-Stops. The Victorian house has a self-contained two-bedroom flat on the ground floor.
Divided into three flats in the early 1970s, the house could still be used as such, though the current owner lives in the upper two floors while letting out the ground floor.
This is an attractive, comfortable house that is now a little tired. While there is a good deal of renovation work to be done, the house has terrific original features, including very ornate plasterwork in the hallway and main reception rooms, and fine original fireplaces.
The 2,800 sq ft house has an unusual layout with the kitchen at hall level, occupying one of the interconnecting reception rooms. This works surprisingly well, though new owners will probably relocate the kitchen to the lower level.
The owner, a titled lady who divides her time between Dublin, Tipperary and France, insisted on one thing when her husband bought the house in the 1970s. It had to have an Aga. In fact, it has a double Aga cooker that manages to heat the entire hall level from its position in the kitchen. The kitchen is in the rear reception room, though the units were installed so as not to interfere with the original plasterwork.
The front reception room is a lofty, high-ceilinged room with an open fireplace, superb cornicework and high double doors leading to the kitchen. At the back of the hall is a bedroom and en suite bathroom. Above it, on the next landing, is a study that could also be used as a bedroom. Next to this is a cloakroom and toilet.
The main bedroom is on the first floor and it is a big gracious room that would originally have been the drawingroom of the house. There is a second bedroom with an en suite bathroom at this level, as well as galley-style kitchen currently used as a laundry and utility room.
Steps lead up again to the second return where the fourth bedroom also has an en suite bathroom. The ground floor two-bedroom flat is in good order and has access to the small walled back garden.
