A colourfully planted garden full of secret paths, nooks and rockeries is one of the main attractions of a house high on Killiney Hill Road – that, and its views from both house and garden of Killiney Bay.

Bel Air Cottage, a detached 191sq m (2,055 sq ft) pink-painted, four-bedroom house a short walk from the Druid's Chair pub in Killiney, Co Dublin, is for sale by private treaty through Knight Frank for €995,000.

The owners of Bel Air, which dates from the early 19th century, moved here 30 years ago and renovated it in traditional country cottage style. Most of the ground floor area is tiled with painted red floor tiles; some doors, cupboards and ceilings are tongue and groove, parts of the original thick stone walls are exposed, although painted.

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The overall effect is attractively rustic – but new owners may want to renovate Bel Air in a more modern style.

In particular, they are likely to want to modernise bathrooms, the kitchen and create a more open-plan design in the downstairs area. Downstairs rooms include the kitchen/breakfast room (which has attractive hand-made green units) at the back of the house and a livingroom at the front which has good views of the sea.

Surprise

There's a family room with bookshelves and an open fire at the other end of the front hall, bathroom, tiny study, utility room and cloakroom. There are four bedrooms upstairs, one with a small en suite. There's also a surprise – a good-sized drawing room which has good views of Killiney Bay from one window and of Killiney Hill park from another: you can glimpse the top of Enya's Ayesha Castle from here.

Outside, there’s parking for a number of cars in a paved area immediately behind the house. Steps lead up from here to the steep, beautifully tended and lawned garden. A steep laneway, a sharp turn off Killiney Hill Road, leads to the side parking entrance.

The house is a short walk from the roundabout at Killiney village and from an entrance to Killiney Hill park.