A Victorian house opposite Holy Child secondary school in Killiney, Co Dublin, has sloping gardens overlooking Killiney Bay, a huge conservatory, large tennis court, a separate cottage and a distinctive Italianate tower from which there are panoramic views.
The vendors of Mentone, built around 1850, moved in 37 years ago and have maintained the listed building well: it’s decorated in Victorian style, with antique furniture and lots of sweeping drapes on windows, all handmade by the owner.
A buyer is likely to update the house, perhaps extending the kitchen, and redecorating in a more contemporary style – but Mentone is a handsome house on 1.4 acres of gardens in a great location in one of Dublin's most exclusive suburbs. The 384sq m (4,133sq ft) four-bed is for sale with Sherry FitzGerald for €3.95 million.
The double-fronted house stands high over Station Road (Killiney Dart station is about five minutes’ walk) on the corner with Military Road, barely visible behind high walls. The large entrance hall, with elaborate plasterwork and a centre rose, opens into an inner hall with reception rooms on either side.
The drawing room and dining room both have distinctive clear arched windows looking out to sea; the drawing room also has a tall, very deep bay window taking in the view from the side of the house.
There are French windows from both the dining room and the kitchen beyond into a sun room running almost the length of the side of the house. Agent Rosie Mulvany thinks new owners will consider extending the pretty pine kitchen, with its large red Aga and terracotta floor, into this space.
There’s a family room off the hall at the rear of the house, a utility room and downstairs bathroom. A side door leads into the back courtyard, where a gate opens on to Marino Avenue East and provides a quick route to the Dart station.
Dramatic views
Upstairs, a small study has been created on the landing that leads into the main bedroom: dual aspect, the bedroom has dramatic views across the sea to Dalkey Island. A dressing room off it, with fitted wardrobes and a marble countertop with two wash-hand basins, opens into an en suite with a shower and bath.
There are two more large double bedrooms off the landing and a few steps up there is a children’s bedroom painted a pretty blue and white with built-in bunk beds. From here, a spiral staircase winds up to the wood-panelled tower, with windows all around providing the finest views from mountains to sea. One of the daughters who grew up here used the tower – a great hideaway for children or adults – as her bedroom.
A passage from the sun room downstairs leads to the huge Botanic Gardens-style conservatory beside the house: split level, with a pizza oven and a room that was once a kitchen, it could even accommodate a swimming pool, says Mulvany.
Outside, a stone path winds around the gardens and the long sloping lawn with plants, shrubs, a pond, very tall trees and a separate walled garden. The very large tennis court sits below the lawn, though it is barely visible from it. A one-bedroom cottage beside the house, accessed from Marino Avenue East, has been rented out for about €1,200 a month.
