A COACH HOUSE in Ranelagh, reconstructed by its architectural-technician owner David Palmer, is new to the market through Douglas Newman Good for €570,000.

The building, off Mountainview Road, used to be part of the coach house for Mountainview House. Palmer took down the original 55cm thick walls and replaced them with thinner ones and raised the ridge height. He put the living space and kitchen on the top floor, beneath copious rooflights, while the two bedrooms are on the ground floor, one en suite.

The steel-frame of the structure, which was built by Palmer, his father, a friend and specialist subcontractors, meant that dividing walls weren’t needed in the upper area and it also enabled the top floor to cantilever over a car parking space.

Palmer, who runs PalmerWhelan Associates and teaches at DIT Bolton Street, detailed the upper windows so that they lie flush with the external timber-panels. The house, which has a west-facing garden, is well insulated and the rooflights bring solar gain. A growing family forces this reluctant sale.