Moving to Ireland: House Viewing #3

If you’ve been following along on our house hunting adventures in Ireland, then you’ll know that House #1 and House #2 were a big, fat bust.

I hate to spoil the surprise, but if we are connected on Instagram or you ran into my dad, then you already know “third times a charm” is now my favorite phrase ever.

House #3 is a 4 bedroom, 2 bath semi-detached home located in a small coastal village about 30 minutes south of Dublin. Semi-detached is just a fancy way of saying it’s actually attached on one side and thus a duplex.

This home was built in 1966 and thankfully has had some updates since that glorious decade.

The house itself is located on a quiet street and the neighborhood backs up to a large park. From the house it’s about a 10-minute walk to the train station or a 2-minute walk to the bus stop.

I’m going to have to talk more about doors at some point because the Irish seem to love their front doors. (Here’s an article about The Doors of Dublin.)

The windows and hardware of this front door make my heart go pitter-patter. The front door key is an old-fashioned looking, skeleton-type key. Be still my heart.

Let’s go inside, shall we?

This is one portion of the home’s foyer, which is actually pretty large. I’ve had homes in the U.S. with no foyer, so I appreciate the space.

I’ve only been in a dozen or so homes in Ireland, but so far, all the carpet I’ve seen is low-pile, kind of like a Berber-esque carpet.

To the left of the entry is a bedroom or what we will use as an office. It has a connected bathroom that has not been updated.

It’s not terrible though – especially if you like the color peach.

To the right of the foyer is the living room, which runs the width of the house. It’s a long narrow room with a wood stove dividing the space in half.

One of the things I appreciate most about this home are the gigantic windows. I’m basking in all of the natural light. The curtains might not look special in this photo, but the landlord appreciates quality and these are really well-made, high quality curtains.

That bookshelf is not built in, but it is secured to the wall with brackets. You know I want to move it, right? Handy Husband just shakes his head. It would “breathe” better if it was scooted over to the other side of the doorway. However, I’m guessing it was a beast to secure to the wall and therefore the space behind it hasn’t been painted in awhile. That could be bad.

Moving on. If you were back in the foyer and walked straight ahead, you’d be in the dining room.

It also has a little fireplace. At this point we don’t plan on using the fireplaces, but we will see. I’m not a huge fan of the mess they create.

In case you are wondering, this home is the antithesis of open concept. Every room has a door or two. I’m going to go out on a limb and say the practical reason every room can be closed off is for energy efficiency. In a home that is heated with radiators or wood heat, you can pick and choose which areas you want to heat in the winter.

Speaking of doors, I brought all of my over-the-door hooks with me from Georgia. I knew I would be moving into a smaller home with less storage, so anywhere I could sneak in extra functionality would be good.

Smart thinking, right? I’d like to think so. Using the ol’ brains, I am.

Wrong.

I made a completely erroneous assumption. I assumed door depth was a fairly standard thing. Not so. These doors are thicker than any door I’ve had the pleasure of hanging hooks on. Only one of my hooks fits (very tightly), but the door won’t close. GAH!

Let’s continue on with the tour.

Part of the kitchen is shown below. The cabinet on the far left is the refrigerator. I’ve always wanted a concealed refrigerator! Thankfully, it’s a little bit bigger than the refrigerator in our temporary home.

This home does have a separate washer and dryer. Yay! The washer is located in the kitchen. The dryer is outside in a shed, which isn’t as terrible as it sounds. It’s all a matter of perspective. Our last home in Georgia was built in the 1960s too and the laundry room was located off the carport. I’m used to traipsing outside to do laundry.

I’m thankful for the dryer! I’ve used it a couple of times, but on nice days I’m channeling my modern-day Laura Ingalls Wilder and drying clothes on the line. There’s nothing like a crunchy bath towel to give you a little extra exfoliation!

There is also a small freezer in that same shed and I’m very thankful for that because I made a batch of strawberry freezer jam this week. And all was right in my world.

Also, my cookie sheets just barely fit in that cute oven. As in, one cookie sheet is the entire size of the cooking rack. These are the small, but important details that the “Congratulations! You’re Moving to Ireland” books don’t mention.

By the way, the number one thing I’m Googling lately is fahrenheit to celsius conversion.

Up the stairs on the second floor are 3 bedrooms. We moved a king, queen and twin bed and miraculously, all of them fit.

There is also a bathroom upstairs. This home does not have a bathtub in either bathroom, which I find a little odd. I didn’t realize it until after we signed the lease that the upstairs bathroom has no mirror. Between no outlets and no mirrors, I think the homebuilder made his point.

Vanity has no place here! Do your business and get out! Or something like that.

I really hate to finish this post off with a picture of an open toilet. (That’s probably the one Facebook is going to pull into its feed though.)

So here’s a picture of the kids playing in the backyard.

It’s a legit backyard! Probably one of the nicer backyards we’ve had. This is a perk of moving a little ways out of Dublin.

I’m actually surprised we ended up with this home. Here’s the thing about Handy Husband and me. I’m the frugal one when it comes to everything except where we live. Handy Husband is the opposite. This home didn’t max out our price range, but it was closer to the top than any of the other houses. I thought the home suited our needs especially because it was unfurnished, but I was prepared to walk away. It was Handy Husband that pounced on this house. The man can still surprise me!

After viewing the home with the realtor, we had to come back a second time to meet with the owners before we could secure the lease. I used every trick in my parenting toolbox to impress upon my children the importance of them not acting like wild hyenas during this meeting.

I have to say, I have never been so graciously welcomed to a home or area as I was by these landlords. Once again, human kindness was overflowing. Their generosity of spirit really blew me away. I kind of felt like hugging them and I’m not a hugger! Plus, I’m pretty sure there’s an unwritten law about not hugging your landlord. Awkward!

When the other homes we viewed didn’t “feel” right to me, I think it was because we were meant to find this place and I’m so happy we did.

If you are moving, visiting or want to know more about life in Ireland, here are a whole bunch of posts for you!

Living in Ireland: Life Without a Car

Living in Ireland: Inside My Kitchen

Living in Ireland: Christmas in Retail 2017

Living in Ireland: Storm Ophelia

Living in Ireland: That Time a Tree Came Down

Living in Ireland: Pediatric Emergency Medicine

Living in Ireland: Back After A Month in the United States

Living in Ireland: As Seen On My Commute

Living in Ireland: A Trip to the Hardware Store

Living in Ireland: Spring Flowers In Our Yard

Living in Ireland: Grocery Shopping

Living in Ireland: What to See my Hot Press?

Living in Ireland: Merry Christmas 2016

Living in Ireland: Christmas in Retail

Living in Ireland: Groceries

Moving to Ireland: Grocery Item Look Alikes

Moving to Ireland: Primary School 101

Moving to Ireland: First Week of School

Moving to Ireland: The Great Purge

Moving to Ireland: Human Kindness is Overflowing 

Moving to Ireland: House Viewing #1

Moving to Ireland:  House Viewing #2

Moving to Ireland: House Viewing #3

Moving to Ireland: Temp House First Floor

Moving to Ireland: Temp House Second Floor

Moving Tips to Keep You Sane

My #1 Moving Tip

Thinking about visiting Ireland? Read on!

The Cliffs of Moher and the Aran Islands with Kids

Galway with Kids

Our Favorite Irish Castle Tour with Kids

Belfast with Kids

Dublin: Talking Statues

Kissing the Blarney Stone and Blarney Castle