Period elegance on prestigious D4 road for €10m

• Published date: 11 April 2024
• Publication title: Irish Times (Dublin, Ireland)

The owners lovingly restored all the coving, cornicing and ceiling roses, and got their engineers to reinforce the feature staircase; they also hired Bloom gold-medal-winning landscape architect Jane McCorkell to reimagine the magnificent south-facing back garden to make it a tranquil space for relaxing and al fresco dining. The garden backs on to four acres of grounds belonging to Danesfield, the German ambassador’s residence, so all you see behind Victoria House is a lush, green vista. A decade ago, this level of renovation would have cost a small fortune – if you were getting the same work done today, you’d need a pretty big fortune, so it’s a good thing that new owners will have absolutely nothing to do except settle in and enjoy this exquisite new chapter in their lives

Number 81 Ailesbury Road is spread over a generous 550sq m (5,910sq m) of pure comfort and luxury, with no end of storage and living space, and is for sale through Sherry FitzGerald, asking €10 million. This will be one of the more expensive house sales in Dublin this season, although number 7 Ailesbury Road, another superb, completely refurbished period home, is going for a cool €12 million.

You enter the front garden of Victoria House via electronic security gates, and there is parking on the gravel drive for six cars, with charging points for electric vehicles. You go up railed granite steps to a pillared entrance porch with tiled floor and into a grand and gracious entrance hall, with ornate cornice, arch and stained glass window. Up a few steps to the left is the guest cloakroom/WC with lovely mosaic tiled floors timber-panelled walls with a mirror set in, and hanging and drawer space. To the right are the magnificent adjoining drawing room and dining room, separated by sliding double doors and both boasting intricate cornice work, centre rose and feature marble fireplace with cast-iron inset.

All the windows in this listed building have been skilfully replaced, including the twin sash windows to the front of the drawing room looking out on to Ailesbury Road. At the back of the dining room, a glazed French door leads out to cast-iron steps down to the back garden, which the owners installed.

At the end of the hall, the space opens out to an atrium-style reception area, with the feature staircase wrapped around it. Here’s where you’d put the 25ft Christmas tree when December comes. On the hall return to the back is a cosy living/family room leading in to a classic, light-filled...