The houses on Marino Avenue East, a beguiling, tree-lined private road that runs off Military Road, Killiney, are some of the few where you can have a view of Sorrento Terrace and not feel jealous. At St Leonard's, which is for sale with Savills for €3.85 million, you have a number of vantage points from which to gaze across the bay to Dalkey Island and feel good about yourself.
The eight-bedroomed house rambles over four floors and has lawns that run down to a private gateway that gives access to the Dart at Station Road and Killiney Beach. Once, the lower part of the gardens was a paddock. The house also has four stables: the Barrett family, who have lived here for 37 years, raised pony-loving children.
Date carved on fireplace
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The house itself was built in 1885, although a date carved on one of the original fireplaces proclaims the initials JRO and the date 1886. This was JR Orpen, a church warden and the first occupant of St Leonard’s. Even though it’s Victorian, the house is Tudor in style, with deep squared-off bay windows containing small panes of glass that create jewelled light through strips of stained glass. The public rooms range from grand and elegant to comforting and cosy and, as the flooring runs from parquet to mosaic to thick carpet, the whole impression is of opulence – but in a style
different to today’s bland fashion for bleached wood, travertine and polished marble.
The Barretts added a kitchen extension with a dining space on the first floor, although anyone feeling adventurous can investigate the stone flagged sculleries at the lower ground level. There’s a terrace off for breakfast on sunny days, where you can watch the lobster boats trawling the bay and see the ships pass. A spiral staircase leads down to a snug den/ playroom.
Bathed in light
Upstairs, the master bedroom is bathed in light, and the views get even better the higher you go. The master is ensuite, but the family bathroom is really delicious, with the original bathtub and mosaic floor. All the bedrooms are of a good size, and at the very top you get an extensive layout in the eaves, currently including two bedrooms, a bathroom and a games room large enough for a pool table and pinball machine. There’s also all the potential of an old coach house should you want even more space.
What's the nicest thing about St Leonard's? It's hard to narrow it down. The house itself would be lovely in any setting, but the location definitely doubles the price tag. Next door, Miramar famously sold for €3 million in 2011, in the depths of the recession.
To lie in bed and hear the sea, to be able to catch a Dart in under five minutes, or walk up Killiney Hill as if it were your own back garden, are all part of the spell cast by this very special house.
