Sir Horace Plunkett was a good thing. His Foxrock house, Kilteragh, was burned out by the IRA in 1923 but, prior to that, Plunkett had established the cooperative farming movement in Ireland, and was a staunch supporter of Home Rule. The Kilteragh lands have since been developed, but the big house's two gate lodges survived, one of which, Rusheen, is now for sale with Knight Frank for €2,500,000.

Built in the early 1900s in the Arts and Crafts style, the original lodge was a square building with a curving turret detail, cosy rooms, deep leaded windows, and timber-beamed ceilings. The current owners, who have lived there for more than 40 years, extended in the 1980s, bringing the house to 329sq m (3,433sq ft), with five double bedrooms.

There’s also a detached garage, for those who might seek out more space, and plenty of off-street parking too. But, back to the house: the extension is perfectly in keeping with the original and, as it provides a separate staircase to the newer bedrooms, it’s a great arrangement for older children, or house guests you don’t want directly on top of you.

Sunny conservatory

There’s a large kitchen, in what was once the maid’s quarters – yes, even gate lodges had maids back then. There’s also a long and charming dining room, a den, and a lovely sunny conservatory. Add to that a big tv/entertainment room, and a show-stopper of a lounge with a huge, curving picture window overlooking the lovely gardens, and this is a house with lots of options for living and entertaining.

The owner was in the construction business before retirement, and he points out the timber beams in the lounge, complete with indentations from their previous life. In a charming snippet of history, he tells me they came from the CHQ building in Dublin's docklands. Once a tobacco warehouse, the huge space was the venue for the Crimean War Banquet of 1956, where 3,500 guests ate "250 hams, 230 legs of mutton, 500 meat pies, 250 plum puddings weighing one ton and a half". If those beams could talk…

The owner is a keen gardener, and there are ponds and fountains, plus a pair of added bonuses: a hard-surface tennis court secluded at the back, where climbing roses trail around the perimeter; and a separate strip of land to one side with road frontage to Westminster Road and planning permission for a dwelling. This is for sale separately at €800,000. Food for thought.