A Georgian apartment with all the trappings of its era, plus modern luxuries like underfloor heating, is a far cry from the freezing top-floor flat that Dominic West once inhabited.
Address: Apartment 3, 47 Mountjoy Square, Dublin 1, D01C6T4
Asking price: €450,000
Agent: Sherry FitzGerald
Dominic West recently went sale agreed on a Georgian mansion on Henrietta Street, shining a spotlight on Dublin 1's Georgian heritage.
Henrietta Street, North Great George’s Street, and Mountjoy Square are home to some of the finest Georgian architecture in the city.
During his final year at Trinity College, The Wire and the Crown star lived on the inner city square in what he described as a "freezing" top-floor flat, with views in three directions and a turf fire in his bedroom.
A one-bedroom apartment at 47 Mountjoy Square has all the luxury that was lacking during West’s time on the square.
Situated on the south side of quadrant, on the piano nobile, or first floor, the 92 square metre residence spans the depth of the house and has gorgeous, twin multi-pane sash windows.
It is one of only ten two-bay structures on the square and still has its exposed limestone doorcase, according to Buildings of Ireland.
Along with number 46, it is one of only two extant buildings erected by the builder of the day, Archibald Manning.
The building was subdivided by Zoe Developments in the early 1990s, and there is now one apartment on each floor.
Number 3 was sold to its current owners as a two-bedroom residence in 2006.
They reconfigured it to take advantage of its elegant proportions and plasterwork, turning the bedrooms into the drawing room.
They also installed underfloor heating, a real luxury in this light-filled and beautifully proportioned property.
Overhead, the stuccowork is elegantly fine, and there are roundels of putti in the ceiling.
The room’s nine-over-nine timber sash windows, which feature their original convex balconettes, are commanding enough to be able to decorate with big swaggy curtains, without the decoration overwhelming the space.
The windows overlook the square, where locals gather to play basketball. In summer, families picnic on the grass.
The bedroom is now to the back, where a Murphy bed set-up has been installed, concealed behind era-appropriate joinery that you walk through to get to its desk and dining table.
It means you can fold it away and use the space as an office or open up the dining room when entertaining, which the owners have regularly done.
The bathroom and kitchen are housed in a 1990s-built return.
The kitchen is small when compared to the grandeur of the property’s two main rooms.
But it has a small balcony that gets the sun and is big enough to fit a bistro set on.
One block over is Parnell Square, where last December, Dublin City Council put out a tender for a new city library at Parnell Square.
This will form part of the Parnell Cultural Quarter, set to reimagine and revitalise the space.
Last week, Dublin councillors agreed to move the Re-imagining Mountjoy Square Park project to Part 8 planning.
Elements of these plans have been years in the making, and soon local residents will be invited to provide their own input on what the new vision should focus on as part of a public consultation.
Agent Sherry FitzGerald is seeking €450,000 for the Ber-exempt apartment. This includes residents’ permit, on-street parking.
