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something different
This Art Deco-style home with a bunker in Rathfarnham is like stepping back in time
A house that’s ready for the next owner to decide what its next era should look like.
TO CALL 16 Rathfarnham Park your usual fixer-upper doesn’t give it justice. Almost like stepping into a museum, this place has somehow sidestepped almost a century of changing tastes. The appeal is certainly in just how many features have survived.
Built by Thomas Stringer around 1935, this five-bed Art Deco-style home has remained in the same family since it was bought off-plan more than 90 years ago. Four generations later, it comes to the market as an intact example of the interwar houses for which this pocket between Rathfarnham and Terenure is known.
For a buyer with an eye for restoration, there is plenty to work with. Original steel-framed windows, pine floorboards, tiled fireplaces, picture rails and period light fittings remain, alongside Oregon pine panelling that sweeps through the hall, staircase and landing. Even the hardwood front door, with its hexagonal head and leaded glass, survives, as do the original gate pillars, door furniture and service bells.
Most intriguingly, tucked beneath the stairs is a wartime bunker, a reminder of the era the house has lived through.
The main reception rooms stretch to almost 10 metres in length and were designed to work together, with recessed sliding doors dividing the front drawing room from the dining room behind. High ceilings, decorative coving, a ceiling rose and generous windows give the space the proportions that make 1930s houses so appealing. French doors at the rear lead towards a conservatory and the garden beyond.
Elsewhere on the ground floor, the original layout offers another glimpse into how the house once operated. A parlour retains its brick hearth and service bells, while the former maid’s quarters now provide a fifth bedroom alongside a kitchenette and guest toilet.
Upstairs are four further bedrooms, three retaining their original fireplaces, while the bathroom is another appealingly untouched space, complete with timber floorboards, steel-framed window and original illuminated mirror.
16 Rathfarnham Park feels like something of a time capsule, its location is anything but stuck in the past. It sits between the villages of Rathfarnham and Terenure, with shops, schools, sporting facilities and everyday amenities within easy reach. Bushy Park and the grounds around Rathfarnham Castle provide two substantial green spaces nearby.
Another surprise is outside. Behind the house stretches a deep, west-facing garden of approximately 110 feet. Old trees, a greenhouse and an untamed character give it the feeling of a mature urban garden rather than a blank canvas. A covered side passage provides direct access from front to back.
This is a clear restoration project and no doubt a lot of investment would be needed to bring it up to scratch. There is no central heating, which has had the unintended benefit of leaving many of those original pine boards undisturbed. For the right buyer, the challenge will be introducing 21st-century comfort without stripping away the details that make the house special.
16 Rathfarnham Park, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 is on the market for €950,000 through Casey Kennedy.
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