Sunroom extension adds a light touch at €595,000 Broadale home
TRANSFORMATION is at the core of The Ugly Duckling tale, which is why the owners of no 6 Willsbrook drew a comparison between Hans Christian Andersen’s timeless classic and their home in Broadale.“It was something of an ugly duckling when we bought it, but we completely changed it. There isn’t a room in the house that looks the same as it did 10 years ago,” the owners say.They did a lot of the work before they moved in, after purchasing the 141 sq m house in 2014. As first-time buyers with a one-month-old baby and with plans to expand their family, a four-bedroom home in Broadale fitted the bill. A decade later, with as many children as bedrooms, they’ve decided to upsize.They had hoped to remain in Broadale, on Maryborough Hill, but attempts to buy a bigger home in the estate failed.“We tried really hard to stay in the park and went sale agreed twice, but the vendors could not find suitable properties and the sales could not be completed,” the owners say, adding that their experience is symptomatic of “a dysfunctional housing market”.Having been unable to buy in Broadale, they are off to Mount Oval, to a do-er upper with a slightly bigger footprint.The woman of the house is looking forward to “doing it all again”, having done plenty at no 6, including fitting a new kitchen, installing new front and back doors, upgrading bathrooms and fitting a wood stove in the living room. Other subsequent changes included adding an island to match the kitchen units, as well as an impressive bespoke dresser for storing glassware.In 2019 they added a sunroom, significantly enhancing the open-plan kitchen/dining room. Light floods in through the back wall apex window and through two skylights.Once the sunroom — with feature redbrick wall — was completed, they brought back Eoin Nolan, the garden designer who had landscaped out front a few years previously, when they replaced tarmac with a cobble lock driveway with parking for two cars.A sandstone patio was laid to the rear — which faces south west — and attractive shrubbery was planted along the back wall. Fortunately, it was done and dusted just ahead of the pandemic. There are communal green areas in the estate too, cared for by a very active residents’ association.“The residents’ association is really strong and all of the common play areas are maintained to a very high standard,” the owners say, adding that their children could just “throw on a pair of wellies and hang out of trees all day”.“It’s an amazing place for those with a young family,” they say, adding that the nearest primary school is a 15-minute walk away in Foxwood, while buses stop outside the estate for secondary school.Having recently gone sale agreed at smaller sized No 2 Broadale, Stuart O’Grady of Sherry FitzGerald, who is also selling No 6, predicts strong interest. Main en suite bedroomHis guide price for the B3-rated home is €595,000. Its solid BER means buyers can qualify for green mortgage rates. Mr Stuart says it’s “a really good family home, in a location that’s “handy to everything”, including Douglas village.
VERDICT: Attractive home, solid family option.
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