Inside the €725k North Circular Road period property that inspired an award-winning movie

​For writer, poet and film maker Donal Nugent, the property crash brought a ray of unexpected hope and good luck.

“Back in 2010 I owned a one-bedroom apartment at Mountjoy Square in Dublin and I was looking to trade up. Given how high property prices had been, I fully expected to be looking at a two-bedroom apartment at best. I did notice a lovely three-bedroom house at the North Circular Road but it was well out of my reach.”

But as the economy steadily worsened and as the IMF landed to sort out Ireland Inc, the asking price for No183 slipped lower and lower. Period properties such as these lost half their value from peak to trough from 2006 to 2012.

“It kept on going down in price to a level that made me think: ‘Hello, maybe I might actually be in with a chance here’.” After successfully raising finance, Nugent was surprised to find himself moving into a fine three-bedroom period house instead of the two-bedroom flat he had envisaged. Later it emerged that he had managed to trade up right at the very bottom of the market.

As a magazine and corporate writer who works for clients ranging from the RDS to eBay, Nugent also holds an MA in screen-writing. He was also the winner of the 2007 Start Award for poetry.

Being “on a high” having just moved into his new house with his husband Arnaud Sichaumette, Nugent decided to play his good luck further and put his screenwriter training to the test.

“A friend of mine suggested a film project and I got fully on board. This Edwardian house is cosy and comfortable and despite a modern extension, it still has all the period features and slightly grand atmosphere. It’s got the floor boards, the big old fireplaces and the high ceilings. The area is wonderful too. Dublin 7 is somehow always more authentic to me. So the house and its location inspired the plot for our film.”

The result is North Circular Road, Nugent’s story of a girl haunted by a ghost in her own house. Starring Lorna Larkin, Patrick O’Donnell and Vanessa Lizanne, it went on to win the Best International Film Award at the Monaco Festival in 2015.

Meantime at No183 in which its story is based (the ghost is entirely fictional!) Donal and Arnaud decided to make only slight alterations. “We floored the attic because we needed some home office space and, as it happens, I always wanted to live in a three-storey period house.” The extra large space is lit with two substantial skylights and makes for an airy working space and seating area with bedroom potential. They also installed an extra bathroom on this floor.

“The previous owners were a family who had converted it from old flats. Unlike a typical Celtic Tiger era extension, this is modern inside but totally in keeping with the building and so it hasn’t really dated at all. The family left us a lovely note to say that it was always a happy house for them.

But what has changed since 2010 when this couple moved in, is the North Circular Road itself.

“I suppose nobody cared enough about the NCR to demolish it back in the day when all the houses were in flats and so run-down. I lived here for a time back in the late 80s. My background is a dairy farming family in Tipperary and my dad’s first reaction when I bought it was, “That’s across the road from the cattle markets”. The area had sunk into something of a hole following the closure of the once lively markets and the huge Grangegorman hospital/home, creating a long lasting stretch of decrepitude along one whole side of the road.

“But the big difference today is the new university campus at Grangegorman which is bringing so many young people in. We’ve watched the houses converted from flats to private residences and new cafés and outlets opening. Since 2010 we got the three Ls: Learning, Lidl and Luas.”

No183 has two interlinking receptions including a living room with original marble chimney piece, polished original wooden floor boards, picture rails, covings and a ceiling rose. Double doors open into the dining room which has another original marble chimney piece, polished boards and similar wall and ceiling trim along with fitted bookshelves and storage cupboards at either side of the fireplace.

There’s a very big open-plan kitchen, living and dining space which ends in the modern extension with the sunroom and floor-to-ceiling glazing to the garden.

The kitchen is fitted with contemporary floor and wall units and granite worktops. There’s a free standing range with a gas hob for cooking. Also on this floor is a guest bathroom and a utility room.

Upstairs the master bedroom spans the width of the house with two large windows with fitted wardrobes, a polished wooden floor, covings and a ceiling rose.

Bedroom two has a cast-iron fireplace and both bedroom two and three are doubles.

The main bathroom is fitted with a stand-alone period style tub and a double shower, a WC and a hand basin. Upstairs again, the aforementioned converted attic with its shower room also benefits from under eaves storage.

But ever looking to new projects, Donal and Arnaud bought a period Georgian townhouse in Clonmel with the idea of turning it into an upmarket Airbnb.

“I thought everything could be done in six months, when in fact, both took closer to four years. But it’s almost done and now we like it too much to share it with guests. So we’re moving to Clonmel and selling No183.” Those writing skills will be deployed one last time at No183. A note letting the owners know it’s still a ‘happy house.’

Sherry FitzGerald seeks €725,000.