By Catherine Shanahan Pictures: H-Pix,Irishexaminer.com

Copyright irishexaminer

WILDLY inconsistent garden sizes around housing estates in Ballinlough and Douglas would leave you wondering what the builders were thinking (smoking?) when divvying out plots back in the 1950s.

Was it influenced by historical boundaries and former big-house lands, or was it down to the practicalities of road alignment and site constraints?

Whatever the reason, it created a garden-sized anomaly: How big or small your lawn is boils down to which side of the road you live on.

While those for whom the grass was greener on the other side just had to suck it up, their more fortunate neighbours have long enjoyed the luxury of what modern-day developers would label as “premium plots”.

One such premium plot is at No 23a Rathmore Lawn, appropriately named Cúl Álainn, which basically translates as Lovely Rear. It does indeed have a lovely rear, big enough, length-wise (60m) for an Olympic-size swimming pool (50m). Its remarkable depth was at the expense of a handful of homes in nearby Ballincurrig Park (see aerial images) whose only comfort is having less grass to cut.

The owners of Cúl Álainn had lots to work with when creating a series of nice spaces out back. In 2002, they added a sunroom/dining room extension overlooking the long lawn. French doors open from it to a patio.

Deeper into the garden, beneath a pergola, is a second patio area, that faces directly south.

“It picks up the sun all day,” says selling agent Lawrence Sweeney of Savills, who adds that there’s a pond as well, for wildlife, and apple trees at the bottom of the garden.

“When you walk through the house and out into the back garden, all you hear is birdsong. There is no urban noise at all. It’s unheard of to have a site this size in an urban area. You could literally live off the land,” he adds.

Fans of growing-your-own could grow their own and much, much more at this Rathmore Lawn home.

Even with two patios, a garden shed, a pond, a nice bit of shrubbery, and some trees, there’s still a huge surfeit of space. Another house extension could easily be accommodated, and there’s plenty of precedent.

Two doors down, an extended home has essentially doubled in size. At 115 sq m, Cúl Álainn could easily afford to go out, up, or back, with no danger of site cramp

Mr Sweeney says a detached garage inside the front boundary wall could be a workshop or home office or studio — or even additional accommodation.

Cúl Álainn, a three-bedroom semi-D built in 1951, has been well-maintained.

New owners are likely to make further upgrades, the agent says but, in the meantime, it’s absolutely habitable.

Viewings have been extremely busy, given the whopping site size and the nice neighbourhood.

“The viewing numbers are very high and we’re seeing quite a mixed bag, from first-time buyers to people trading up and trading down,” Mr Sweeney says.

Noticeable among them is the number of people who bought their first home in deeper suburbia in the last five or so years and who are now “keen to relocate back to where they grew up themselves, to where they know, closer to grandparents” says the agent.

Cúl Álainn, in a hidden enclave of just four homes tucked up a laneway off Rathmore Lawn, is on the market with an AMV of €595,000.

Schools, retail, public transport, and sports facilities are all within easy walking distance.

VERDICT: King-sized garden is the real plot twist at this ideal family home.