When the owner of 49 Kenilworth Square was deep into the renovation of the four-bedroom Victorian semidetached property in the mid 1990s, he remembers standing in the excavated basement and being able to see the sky clearly through all three levels as the house was back to its shell.
Having spent years in New York, the owners brought elements of their life there back to Dublin with them – and not just furniture and fittings, but a sleek, minimalist aesthetic.
When they purchased the 306sq m (3,300sq ft) Kenilworth Square property, it had been laid out in a warren of rooms and bedsits. It now presents as an elegant Victorian home with an immaculate front garden behind a cut-stone wall.
The entrance hall is papered in linen-effect wallpaper in two contrasting patterns. The space impresses with a ceiling rose, entrance arch and a limestone tiled floor.
To the left are beautifully restored interconnecting reception rooms adorned by Waterford Lismore chandeliers. The Ber-exempt house sits on a north–south axis, so light floods through this elegant pair of rooms from the south. The owner recounts how the cornicing was stripped of decades of paint by hand and the Adam fireplaces were restored to their pristine, marble original condition.
Once the sliding pocket door at the end of the hall opens, the aesthetic becomes decidedly more minimalist. It is a confection of steel, glass and splayed rooflights that creates a marvel of architecture and engineering in the double-height extension.
Glass steps lead down to the basement that was excavated, adding an extra couple of feet required by the height of one of the owners.
It’s quite the space, with low-slung leather sofas, a breakfast bar and the architectural elements – the immense steel pole, the glass balustrade on the stairs, the stairs – seamlessly integrate to create a high-end design in situ since the 1990s. Cognisant that such a vast space needed some heft and weight to fill it, the owners chose a SieMatic kitchen in grey, with a wolfstone granite worktop.
A wooden door at the end of the kitchen opens on to a short lobby, with a bathroom on one side and a utility room on the other.
Between the utility and bathroom is a door, which opens on to a self-contained granny flat, with a kitchen, living area, bathroom and bedroom, which is as well-designed and fitted out as the rest of this property.
On the return, which had to remain in place for conservation reasons and is cantilevered into the new extension, is a bedroom, currently laid out as a study with extensive storage and a Murphy bed.
The principal bedroom occupies the width of the first floor, along with luxurious bathroom, with a television installed above the deep bath. An uncluttered marble fireplace in the main bedroom and a chandelier add a simple elegance. The last bedroom is to the rear of the house, with a truly beautiful curved slate inset in a stunning Kilkenny limestone fireplace, and excellent built-in wardrobes.
The final bathroom on this floor is a masculine, spa-like space with dark tiles, reminiscent of the stark landscape of the Burren.
A 24ft-long south-facing garden completes this stunning renovation to the rear, with twin rows of Beech espalier trees and, at its end, a row of mature Cypress trees affording even more privacy.
Now downsizing, the owners have placed the property on the market with Mullery O’Gara, seeking €2.9 million.
