A sanctuary of light and space

Tommy Barker meets the owner of this bungalow in the burbs, who has used her interior design skills to make the most of what it has to offer

Sometimes, it doesn’t take much to turn a house into a different sort of home — and that’s what the owner of this detached Garryduff, Rochestown bungalow has proven. As she puts No 1 Foxwood up for sale, its individuality and quality should see it sell speedily, and be equally well-appreciated by its next occupants.

Just a couple of weeks on the market, it’s already generated good viewing activity, and is impressing from the get-go, thanks to the way its has re-ordered and tweaked space for a casual, easy-going sort of lifestyle.

Key selling points are an extra large formal living room, a top-floor private main bedroom with its own very large and comfortable bathroom with corner Jacuzzi bath, double shower and reading/make-up area, and an airy, contemporary and high-ceilinged rear extension with garden access.

And, this well-delivered package which is ideal for a couple, traders-down or those who just want a high comfort factor in a good location has a €340,000 asking price with estate agent Jeremy Murphy, who says it’s a pleasure to show and a credit to its owner. She happens to be an interior designer, by the way.

When first built back in the 1990s, these O’Brien and O’Flynn bungalows had four bedrooms, and while they got in plenty of rooms, it was essentially done at the cost of room sizes.

That’s been tackled by the woman who bought here five years ago, put on a decent 19’ by 15’ rear extension — which seems far larger thanks to its vaulted ceiling airiness — and she also reduced the bedroom count from four to three. She ceded the fourth bedroom’s space to make a far larger formal reception and dining room, that now measures 26’ by 12’, with bay window to the house’s front facade.

Across the hall, there’s an en-suite bedroom also with a bay window, and there’s a third bedroom to the rear of the bungalow, next to the main bathroom; both bedrooms have maple wood floors.

Did we say its main bathroom was downstairs? Yes and no, really. In the case of 1 Foxwood, the real prized one is upstairs, as is the private suite for the main bedroom, a sort of first-floor sanctuary.

In fact, the bathroom has a Velux for southerly light, an oval washstand on a cherrywood plinth, large jetted corner bath, and circular shower cubicle, with walls tiled up to low, dormer ceiling height. It’s a room to linger in, with enough space for comfortable seating.

By being generous with space up here, No 1’s already got an indulgent appeal, and even the art work and pictures on the stairs up along start to set their own tone — it works to create a private space.

Back downstairs, a porcelain tiled hall runs up the middle of the bungalow, with its quietly elegant and 26’ deep reception room to the right, and which has access to a side patio via French doors by the dining table.

Like the bedrooms, floors here are maple, and there’s a simple stone fireplace, with gas insert. Next up, the kitchen has a practical layout and very convincing wide-plank laminate oak floor, painted units and island with quartz tops, and there’s a handy utility with garden access..

The back part of the kitchen opens via a wide span to that great scene-stealing rear sun room or family room, with windows on three sides and in the roof as well. For busy family use, new owners might want to put in glazed double doors, but the sense of space is used to its max without them.

Some pop art on the walls gives a modern feel to this light-soaked space, in marked contrast to the formality of the front ‘good’ room, and this space is all about lounging, while a wall-mounted wide Gazco fire sets the warming tone in the central chimney breast.

There’s access from here to the easy-keep tiered back garden, with mostly hard landscaping in place, and there are also useful side gardens for access, storage, or further planting.

The only grass to cut is in the front lawn, and there’s easy parking in this bungalow’s niche setting by the entrance to Foxwood on the just-resurfaced and realigned Garryduff road.

VERDICT: Best use made with rooms enlarged and skilfully dressed to impress.