On a suburban street where large houses have been the norm for decades, Garryhoe stands out in terms of style and scale. Sydenham Road – one of Dundrum’s prime residential roads, off Taney Road – was developed in the 1850s with one side of the street dominated by fine two-storey over basement redbricks.
A more mixed range of house types grew up in subsequent years on the other side with Garryhoe, built in 2003, one of the more recent additions. Built in the property boom on the site of a more modest house, the three-storey detached 440sq m (4,736sq ft) home was designed by architect Paul Brazil for the family now selling.
This is very much a spacious modern property with nods to design influences from earlier periods. The front door is up a flight of wide steps – echoing its Victorian neighbours across the road – and the timber framed porch opens into a grand reception hall with stone flooring and a sweeping curved staircase leading to the upper and lower floors. The reception rooms – four (although one is currently used as a bedroom) – are on this floor.
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Upstairs there are four bedrooms, the largest has a dressing room and en suite – while the most charming are the two, one to the front, one to the rear, with the semi-circular windows that help give this house its distinctive look.
The laundry room is up on this level – a layout out that is popular in large homes in the US – as having the washer and dryer upstairs saves traipsing up and down with clothes baskets and ironing. The five bathrooms in the house are all fitted with top quality fixtures and finishes.
Just as in most period houses now, the garden level is where the family undoubtedly spend most of their time. There’s plenty of space – there is access from the front under the entrance steps – with interconnecting rooms at the rear, including a cosy family room, opening out the garden. A service lift – hidden behind inlaid timber doors – brings food from the kitchen to the formal dining room, with its adjacent home bar, on the hall floor above.
High-end kitchens stand the test of time and although installed 17 years ago and specially designed for the house, the John Daly kitchen with its painted timber units and stone worktops – complete with large island and Aga – will probably remain untouched by new owners who will otherwise, most likely, embark on a top to bottom redecoration of the property. Adjacent to the kitchen is a large utility and separate walk-in pantry.
The owners having spent nearly two decades in Garryhoe aren’t moving far – they have built a substantial and stunningly modern detached house in the back garden – building a wall and planting mature trees to divide the properties with access to their nearly finished home via a new drive way to the side of Garryhoe. There is plenty of parking out front for several cars behind electric gates.
For sale through Lisney, Garryhoe, Sydenham Road is asking €2.450 million.
