Number 2 Stradbrook Hall in south Co Dublin has an interesting next-door neighbour to one side: a big, beautiful tree standing on its own greenfield site. This magnificent tree is a rare protected species, which means the site next door will not be developed. It’s like having a second front garden right outside your house.
This fine, detached family home sits on a quiet cul-de-sac just off Stradbrook Road in Blackrock, and the owners say they have been very happy here, and will be sad to leave their neighbours, both human and arboreal.
Stradbrook Hall was originally the grounds of the convent and mission house of the Presentation Sisters, who ran Rockford Manor School on Stradbrook Road. Stradbrook Hall encircles the convent, which is now an apartment building, and there’s plenty of green space on the cul-de-sac for children to play.
Number 2 was tastefully refurbished by its owners after they bought it, and during lockdown in 2020 they did even more upgrading work on the house, landscaping the front and rear gardens and refurbishing the three bathrooms (guest toilet downstairs, family bathroom and en suite upstairs) with Villeroy & Boch sanitary ware.
It’s perfectly proportioned for a small family, but there’s an added bonus for buyers: the house has full planning permission and designs for a two-storey extension to the side and a single-storey extension to the rear. This would bring the property from its current 160sq m (1,722sq ft) to an ample 2,500sq ft – more than enough space for a family with teenagers.
Inside, the house has been newly painted with Farrow & Ball colours, and the downstairs comprises spacious livingroom and study to the front, and a kitchen/diningroom, utility room and small conservatory to the rear. The original wooden floors have been painted a more contemporary light grey, and the study features a wooden floor-to-ceiling TV unit with shelves.
The kitchen/diningroom has wood-effect tiled flooring and Country Kitchen design, recessed lighting and double doors leading to the conservatory, which has two Velux windows and sliding doors leading out to a lovely, private back garden. This faces southwest, with a tall granite wall separating it from Stradbrook Road.
There’s a fine patio area with sandstone flagstones and pergola for barbecues in the summer months, a grassy lawn and an astroturf patch beside the house with a putting green for golf enthusiasts to practice their skills. There’s also a treehouse with swings and slide, and the shed sits unobtrusively to the side of the house.
Upstairs is a bright landing leading into four decent-sized bedrooms – the main with en suite – all with space-saving built-in wardrobes. The main bathroom has wood-effect tiled flooring, partially tiled walls and Velux window.
Number 2 Stradbrook Hall, with a Ber of C2, is for sale through Sherry FitzGerald with an asking price of €1.05 million.
