Starter home: A 1960s original, now back in fashion

Cronody is a design timepiece on a large site with views of Monkstown bay, says Rose Martin.

YEAH baby, yeah — Austin Powers would love this house — and it also feels as if it’s been cryogenically frozen for the last 40-odd years.

A timepiece in every way, Cronody, Monkstown is a hymn to the Habitat way of life — from the curved, orange lamp shade, to the pristine ‘60s double oven, to the immaculate, avocado kitchen units with brushed-steel handles.

And there’s matching wallpaper and curtains (just like those shirts and ties), all in a groovy pattern that’s used to good effect on accent walls.

The design and layout of the house is modest, but well-designed, which means the flow of rooms continues to work well.

Cronody is a three-bed, but with a huge site and attached garage that would allow plenty of room for enlargement.

But it would almost be a shame to ruin the museum-piece layout of this property — one that its designer was so pleased with, he bought the property when it came up for sale.

Happening hipsters with the wherewithal to hit close to the asking price should certainly give this house a look over — it’s very now, and stuffed full of furniture and artifacts of its time. Standing on a large, 0.9-acre site and with an enviable location off the Castle Farm Road, below Monkstown Demesne — it’s no surprise that the price is €690,000, through Ann O’Mahony, of Sherry FitzGerald.

And for that money you get an exceptionally private site, with water views directly onto Monkstown bay.

The location is second-to-none, private, south-facing and surrounded by mature gardens and high, deciduous trees.

The layout provides for a large staircase hallway, with an almost-hidden return directly into the kitchen and access (through what would have been double doors), to the living room. This, in turn, opens through to a formal dining room, and on again to the kitchen, which has access through a utility to the attached garage.

The other side of the house includes a remarkable, pink-and-black bathroom and a main bedroom, and upstairs there’s a wide mezzanine/office with double bedrooms to either side, including en-suite master bedroom.

Meanwhile, a bungalow, No 1, Castle Farm Road, Monkstown, which appeared on last week’s pages, is being sold at €320,000 without site potential, through Cohalan Downing and Associates.