Homestead on The Rise

WINSTEAD has done its homestead work well — it accommodated a swelling Dublin family with nine offspring — “a novena of children,” is how the vendor describes it, as she prepares to trade down on the house front after half a century in occupation.

The pre-war, Kenny-built home has a cachet Co Dublin address, billed as No 1 The Rise, Mount Merrion, a solid south Dublin seat with the newish Radissson St Helen’s Booterstown hotel visible across the N11 Stillorgan dual carriageway.

Built back in the 1930s, it was placed on a prime triangular site at the bottom of the residential enclave The Rise, with neighbourhood shopping at the top of the road and with large semi-detached homes in between.

Huge hedge boundaries (tamed and topped Leylandii) fully screen the house and its mature shrubbed gardens and rose beds from public view, and the surprise inside the entrance gate on St Thomas’ Road is just how large the site is.

It has a full one-third of an acre, in the midst of long-settled suburbia.

Winstead, aka No 1 the Rise, has its auction date with destiny on February 23, with a €1.7 million guide quoted by Aisinnn O Buachalla and Denis Beere of Lisney, who say it is in the midst of a superbly serviced neighbourhood, close to UCD at Belfield, the amenity walk Deer Park, RTÉ Montrose and the Stillorgan shopping centre, with Dundrum’s new centre and a Luas link soon to open up.

The €1.7 million guide might seem a tad on the low side for so well-located a house which got a costly internal make-over only five years ago, but at this price level expectations are high, and it will now need another upgrade to satisfy buyers in this demanding league.

In fact, it is probable that some looking at the six-bedroomed, three-reception 2,650 sq ft home will consider very substantial further investment, up to and including demolition and rebuilding.

That might be a pity, given the good bones, good overall condition, solid structure and space here, and the quality of the build has certainly stood the test of time.

There’s a gentle curving bay window to the formal dining room, carried on to the overhead master bedroom, and the external finish includes creamy render and brick, tiled sills with the original wood window frames now upgraded with double glazed inserts.

There’s a pedestrian gate to The Rise, and car access off St Thomas’ Road, and while the site’s size might ordinarily attract developers (a former filling station across the road was redeveloped for apartments) the access near a corner and long-settled residents’ concerns would probably dissuade any grant of planning for more than one new home.

At present, No 1 has gas central heating, burglar alarm, double glazing, two ground floor bedrooms (one en suite) sunny kitchen/breakfast room, sun room, two other reception rooms, guest WC, utility and feature airy hall stairwell with mahogany banisters and galleried landing.

The upper level divides off the staircase and has four further bedrooms, main bathroom with step-down bath, separate WC, and walk-in closet/hotpress with a porthole window.