The rear garden of a house in Blackrock, Co Dublin, is its most striking feature – despite the fact the semi-detached four-bed has been smartly refurbished and extended, and has excellent sea views.
A lawn slopes steeply down behind 8 Maretimo Gardens East, set on the grounds of Maretimo House, a mansion built in 1770 that was demolished in 1970. Maretimo Gardens East and West were built by developer Thomas Archer in the 1930s; the lands were sold after the fifth Lord Cloncurry died in 1929.
A semi-circular wall with three sash windows, the remains of an earlier structure, is an interesting and unexpected feature found at one side of the lawn, adjacent to a patio.
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The garden ends at a railing by a path which leads over a concealed bridge across the Dart line. Here, steep steps lead through a gate down to a private jetty and tiny beach. Apparently the footbridge and a private bathing area with a Romanesque temple – as well as £2,000 – was the compensation claimed by Maretimo’s owner, Lord Cloncurry, when the Dublin to Kingstown line built in the 1830s ran between his property and the sea. The ruins of the temple are now hidden beneath a mass of brambles and bushes. The small beach and jetty – known as Vance’s Harbour – are visible from the Dart.
The most striking room in the house is the main bedroom upstairs
Number 8 has 219sq m (2,357sq ft) of accommodation, including four bedrooms, and is just a short walk from Blackrock village. It's for sale through Savills seeking €1.495 million.
The house has been revamped in a very simple, tasteful style, decorated in neutral whites and greys. Most of downstairs is oak-floored and the bathrooms have slate floors and white brick tiles.
The most striking room in the house is the main bedroom upstairs. A wall of floor-to-ceiling windows with French windows open onto a decked roof-terrace with views of the sea from Dún Laoghaire to Dublin. An oval bath in the en suite lies next to a window with the same sea views. The en suite also has a shower and a narrow dressingroom off it.
Bright space
Downstairs, a livingroom runs from the front to the rear of the house, with matching fireplaces in the front and back sections. It’s a bright space with wide patio doors opening into the rear garden.
The large kitchen/breakfast room is even brighter, with two walls of glazed floor-to-ceiling windows and doors and a long skylight over the countertop and oak-topped island unit. A good-sized slate-floored utility room opens off the kitchen, with a door into a side passage.
Other accommodation in the house includes a small sittingroom/study off the hall to the front and a smart toilet. There are three double bedrooms (including the main bedroom) on the first floor, two are en suite, and a family bathroom. Up a steep flight of stairs there’s a fourth double bedroom and good under-eaves storage.
There’s room to park a couple of cars in the gravelled front garden and, unusually, more space in a driveway and garage on the opposite side of the road, a long cul-de-sac off Newtown Road.
