When the owners of a house on a quiet road in Dalkey moved in about 40 years ago, the one thing they sought was to enhance the view of the sea. And so this 1840s double-fronted villa-style house facing Rockfort Avenue has a surprise at its back: a large balcony the width of the house with excellent views of Dublin Bay.
Carrig Baun is a 195sq m (2,100sq ft) four-bed, the middle in a terrace of three houses, now for sale through Lisney for €2 million. It has been well maintained over the years, and while new owners will likely want to modernise aspects of it, it's a bright comfortable home that could suit a well-heeled downsizer.
Neighbours include Chris de Burgh, who is expected to move back soon into his extensively refurbished and extended house, Aelagh, across the road from Carrig Baun, after putting his Wicklow estate up for sale.
Carrig Baun is a classic upside-down house, with living quarters upstairs and bedrooms below. A protected structure, it still has many of its period features – centre rose, sash windows with shutters, fireplaces – intact. This is most evident in the hall, with its high ceiling, centre rose and arch with fine plasterwork.
The interconnecting reception rooms on the left of the front hall are bright, with a large bay window at the front of the house and a bay at the back with a door opening on to the rear balcony. There’s a large marble fireplace in the drawingroom and double doors in an arch leading to the diningroom at the back.
The sitting room at the front of the house on the other side of the hall is a cosy room, with a marble fireplace and a deep bay window. The kitchen/breakfast room behind it, like the diningroom, has a door on the bay window opening out to the balcony.
The railed balcony was a smart addition, with lots of space for a table and plenty of potted plants. A large mirror on the wall at one side reflects the sea views. Steps lead down to a very private garden: the lawn is fringed with a variety of trees planted by its owners over the years; there are maple trees, a plum tree and down at the end, in a kind of secret garden, is a tree heavy with apples.
There are four bedrooms downstairs and a family bathroom with two wall mirrors and very smart tiles. The main bedroom has an en suite and a bay window with French windows opening onto the porch outside beneath the balcony.
There’s plenty of room to park up to five cars in the gravelled front garden, behind wrought iron gates.
Rockfort Avenue is an L-shaped road leading from Coliemore Road to Sorrento Road in Dalkey, a few minutes’ walk from Dalkey village. The former Yeats’ family home, Cliff House, which sold nearly two years ago for €2.14 million, is undergoing extensive refurbishment on the road, as is Chris de Burgh’s house, Aelagh.
