The couple who found an unexpected extra when they converted an old warehouse into a trendy Dublin 7 townhouse

When Andrew Hayden and his wife Shannon O’Dowd bought The Perch on Synnott Row in Phibsborough it was a rundown warehouse, previously used to store goods from a shop located in a building behind it.

But little did they know when they bought it with the intention of turning it into their dream home, that it had a secret room hidden in its depths.

The bonus basement room is today accessed by a spiral staircase hidden behind a wall in the dining room - now it is a cosy TV room.