Architect Noel O’Dwyer and his spouse Claudia, who has a drama background and works as an event project coordinator, purchased a home in the village of Dalkey near the height of the Celtic Tiger in 2005. They invested all their savings into this purchase.
The 1897-built home at 16 Railway Road was bought for a price of €1.1 million and required significant renovation. Noel mentions that for nearly two decades they’ve been renovating the house with builders constantly being present. However, as Noel, who is a partner at Node Architecture, states, architects constantly have this desire to construct their own homes. Consequently, with their offspring almost of age, the pair plans to sell the property. Noel hopes to either construct anew or refurbish an ancient property. Currently, the property, priced at €1.5 million, is listed for sale via Vincent Finnegan.
The property located a short distance from Dalkey Dart station, amid Finnegan’s pub and the Guinea Pig restaurant, is 170 sq m (1,830 sq ft) big and exhibits the astute design appreciations of Noel, with four rooms arranged in a terraced fashion. In certain aspects, it retains its Victorian charm such as working shutters and centre roses, while in others it is fitted with modern installations complemented by art-deco style furnishings. Another unique architectural feature of the home is its build up- two stories in the front and three at the back. The house carries a C3 Ber rating.
The comprehensive refurbishment, which consisted of demolishing a single-bedroom flat at the rear of the property to form a secluded garden, has resulted in Noel becoming “one of the select few who decreased the size of their dwelling in the southern part of Dublin”, he shares. The garden, encased by a stone barrier on a side, elongates to stairs that climb to an elevated granite patio with customised seating. A pathway located next to a wooden store, featuring built-in seats painted a bold turquoise colour on one side, stretches behind the buildings next door, ending at a gate that opens to a pedestrian lane leading to Writer’s Corner on the periphery of Dalkey village. Cedar strips frame the retractable glass entrances at the back of the residence.
The house is accessed through tall, black, wrought-iron gates that lead to a front garden covered with stones. There is enough space to accommodate two cars next to the ivy-covered wall of the neighbouring restaurant. The front entrance leads to a hallway, which features Jura marble flooring, and is bordered with white-painted panelling below the dado, while above it the panelling is painted grey. This unique feature extents to the top level of the house, where the ceiling is also panelled.
The living room to the left of the entrance includes a marble fireplace and dark oak flooring laid in a chevron pattern. The room also features original cornicing and a decorative ceiling rose from which a large, contemporary light fixture dangles casting a warming, orange glow on the room.
The combined open plan kitchen-family room and dining area at the rear forms the home’s primary hub. The rooms are connected through a wide arch, although distinct in design. With an abundant pyramid-shaped double glazed skylight overhead, the dining area is located adjacent to the retractable glass entrances that lead to the back garden, creating a well-lit space.
A salvaged 1926 French Canadian stove, silver-plated and nestled into a grey-painted brick wall, can be found in the cosy utility room which comfortably houses washing facilities, storage and a bar. Adjacent, a compact toilet adorned with floor-to-ceiling tiles and opposite-facing mirrors enhancing its sense of space is tucked away next to the stove. The dining room boasts an intricate herringbone-style oak parquet flooring.
Beige Jura marble graces the kitchen countertops and flooring of a lengthy island shared with the family room. The tops of each unit gleam with polished stone and exude a stark contrast with the Farrow & Ball Studio Green shade of the unit’s painting. White wall paint enhances the contrast even more. The family room features a television at the centre of a black curved wall, and is surveying all by a pair of eye-catching floor-to-ceiling Charles Rennie Mackintosh mirrors. A well-placed Eames chair and subtly situated cloakroom, hint at the room owner’s fondness for art deco design.
Moving up to the upper levels, four double bedrooms are evenly distributed across two floors. The landing window, sitting next to an integrated bookshelf, gazes out upon Railway Road, under the watchful eye of a stained glass window housed in the ceiling over the staircase, beneath an attic window. The principal bedroom comes lavishly equipped with a sit-down bay window which secretly stashes shoes, built-in wardrobes, and modern silver lighting fixtures hanging from a central ceiling rose. A further double bedroom located to the rear of the home includes a fitted desk, shelving and a sizable CD collection.
The fully tiled family bathroom occupying the second floor presents dual wash-hand basins, backed by a lengthy mirrored wall. A bath with an overhead shower, enveloped by a gently curving transparent screen, and wooden lighting fixtures hanging from the ceiling complete the room.