“The kitchen will be the hardest thing to say goodbye to,” says the owner of The Lodge on Killiney Hill Road. I’m a little distracted by the industrial-sized, sleek glass-fronted wine fridge, but agree that the Dalkey Design kitchen is impressively cool.

When she tells me that the house used to belong to chef Conrad Gallagher, it starts to make sense. "The only changes we made were cosmetic," she adds, recalling a nightclubby vibe when they first moved in.

It is now a bright contemporary family home, with three bedrooms, four if you count the one (currently used as a nursery) that you are not allowed to officially call a bedroom because it has a Velux rather than a “proper” window. This is on the first floor, together with two generous doubles – one en suite – and the family bathroom.

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Downstairs, a further bedroom is set up as a study. There is also a WC at this level and a large lounge, leading on to a living room. The kitchen flows off this, leading to a bright dining area with French windows to the garden.

The house was originally the gate lodge for Shanganagh Terrace, a row of five elegant period houses, built as the dowries for a family of daughters. More houses cluster up the road now, but it still retains the atmosphere of a quiet country lane. The original deeds say you have to be on hand to open the gates to cattle at a respectable time, but the only gates you will need to open these days lead to the off-street parking at the rear and the good-sized enclosed back garden.

The house is for sale with Sherry FitzGerald for €975,000. It is in a great spot: a lovely walk down back lanes to Killiney beach and Dart station and shops are just around the corner. The interiors now are chic and contemporary and the 225sq m (2,424sq ft) of accommodation has been finished to a very high standard.

“I loved it from the minute I saw it,” says the owner, who is moving to get more space for the growing family. “It’ll be very hard to leave.”