Life has been sweet for Peter Cullen: in 1998 he and his son Richard founded The Jellybean Factory. And now he’s about to fulfil a long-held dream of building his own house.That’s why he and his wife Kerrie are selling Tedburn, the Victorian house in Killiney, Co Dublin, they bought in 1994 and moving back to Dalkey, where Peter grew up.
In the 22 years they’ve lived in Tedburn, they’ve done some major renovations to modernise it. But “as long as I’ve known Peter, he’s always said ‘I want build my own house’”, says Kerrie. “And now that I’m retired, I can do it,” adds Peter.
Tedburn, a 260sq m (2,800sq ft) four-bedroom semi-detached house on Claremont Road, Killiney, Co Dublin, is being sold by private treaty through Vincent Finnegan for €1.75 million.
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Upgraded
Built in 1870, Tedburn is an unusual L-shaped house, owing to an extension built in the 1920s on a site where stables had been. The Cullens upgraded the sitting room in what was then the single-storey extension, and built a complete second storey over the room to create a very smart main bedroom.
There’s a long, narrow driveway off Claremont Road – a cul-de-sac off Killiney Hill Road shortly beyond a pedestrian side entrance to Killiney Hill – into Tedburn.
The front door opens into a wide bright hall, floored with rich cherry-coloured jitoba timber that carries on into the open-plan kitchen and living room/dining room. The stained-glass fanlight of the original front door was repaired and replaced in a new door, with stained-glass door panels designed to match it.
This part of the house was renovated just four years ago: the Newcastle kitchen has smart cream units, cream Silestone-topped island unit and countertops, a five-ring gas hob, Belfast sink and big American fridge. The island unit also conceals a small fridge beneath it as well as plenty of drawers and space for recessed seating.
There’s a utility area off the back of the kitchen, with concealed washer and dryer and good storage in “an everything cupboard”, designed at Kerrie’s request
An archway separates the kitchen from the large living room/dining room, created from two smaller rooms. Painted in a Farrow & Ball shade called Oxford stone, this space has a high ceiling, deep coving and a large cast-iron fireplace.
Wide French doors
Wide French doors open from here onto a large sandstone patio in the front garden. A small step from the hall into the kitchen and another from the kitchen to the living room/dining room each have a strip of concealed Led lighting underneath, a clever idea.
On the right of the front door is the very wide, comfortable sitting room. It has a wide bay in which all four original sash windows were removed, double-glazed and put back in place; a cast-iron fireplace has colourful inset tiles. A single PVC door at the end of the room opens onto the narrow patio at the back of the house.
Upstairs, the three original bedrooms and the family bathroom are on the right of the upstairs landing.
The recently renovated family bathroom is fully-tiled. Opposite it is a double guest bedroom with an en suite shower; a third bedroom is currently fitted out as a study. The main bedroom – over the sitting room – is down a few steps on the left of the landing. It’s a large but comfortable, softly-lit space with a walk-in dressingroom at one side, and a very smart marble-floored tiled en suite on the other. It has a large double shower and sink with a polished granite surround.
Outside, the garden is all at the front of the house: at the back, there’s a narrow patio running the width of the house, with access from the garage at the end of the house.
In the front, there’s room to park several cars on the gravelled drive adjacent to the front lawn and the large patio. Peter and Kerrie Cullen are moving on to build their new home on the site of a house they’ve bought in Dalkey – very close to the house where his son Richard, now managing director of The Jellybean Factory, lives with his family. Even closer neighbours will be the family who used to live in Tedburn, who as it turns out, live next door.
