The Bray seafront period home owned by Dublin singer Sinéad O'Connor has been placed on the market seeking €950,000.
The six-bedroom property, Montebello on Strand Road in Bray, is on the market for significantly less than the €1.7 million O’Connor bought it for in 2007 during the property boom.
It isn’t the first time the Grammy Award-winning singer has taken steps to sell the semi-detached house. It was believed the property was close to a sale in January 2017 after going on the market for €795,000 but the sale did not go through. O’Connor was living and touring in the United States at the time.
Glenageary-born O’Connor, who came to prominence in 1990 with her global hit Nothing Compares 2 U, returned to Bray at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic after her US tour was rescheduled.
Set back from Bray’s promenade, the 345sq m (3,714 sq ft) house has panoramic sea views. Dating to the 1860s, the house maintains many of its original features including detailed cornice work, and has a more recent extension at the rear. The interior is brightly painted throughout in hues of pink, purple and blue.
The edge bricks on the white exterior are picked out in Jamaican colours – green, yellow and red – while the front porch frame is a vibrant bubblegum pink. The property has four reception rooms with high ceilings throughout.
The candyfloss pink kitchen has been fitted with a Stanley gas-burning cooker and is framed by a wall of exposed brick. The master bedroom’s walls and ceiling are painted a deep blue to look like the sky or sea, with a mural of what appears to be a Hindu god rising from behind the headboard. Some of the rooms have been fitted with stained-glass windows and one glass door depicts a religious figure.
Upstairs three of the six bedrooms have original fireplaces and the front bedrooms have sea views.
The Dublin singer told The Irish Times Women’s Podcast early in the coronavirus pandemic that her family had taken on the project of fixing up the garden of the Bray home and it has now been completely cleared.
Selling agent REA Forkin described Montebello in its listing as: “One of the finest period properties to be brought to the market in Bray in recent times.”
O’Connor (54), who changed her name to Shuhada’ Sadaqat after converting to Islam, has said her memoir will be published in June 2021.
