In the south Dublin property landscape, the suburb of Rathmichael can sometimes slip under the radar. While envious eyes are fixed on Foxrock a little further up the N11, Rathmichael sits in quiet affluence close to the border with Wicklow, at a comfortable remove from the madding crowd. While the area lacks a central village – you have to go into nearby Shankill to do the grocery shop or meet for a coffee – it has no shortage of big, elegant houses nestling privately behind gates, with views out to the Dublin and Wicklow mountains. Golfer Pádraig Harrington lives here, and Jonathan Swift lived here for a time, at the Old Glebe House, south Co Dublin’s oldest residence, where he is said to have written parts of Gulliver’s Travels.
Tortugas – the Spanish word for turtles – is a six-bedroom detached home on an acre of tranquil, landscaped gardens, with an indoor swimming pool, gamesroom, orangery and a stunning second-floor bedroom suite, which is its crowning glory. The house was completely refurbished from top to bottom by the owners in 2002. They had returned from the US and knew exactly what they wanted: American Georgian-style elegance. Anywhere else, the style might seem incongruous but here it works perfectly, giving this large house a homely feel while leaving room for modernist touches, such as the second-floor suite.
With the swimming pool and gamesroom, the house extends to about 709sq m (7,627sq ft); take away the pool area and you still have about 520sq m (5,600sq ft) of living space. Having raised their family here, the owners are now ready to downsize, and Tortugas, which has a B3 Ber, is for sale through Daphne Kaye and Associates, asking €3.45 million.
The house sits behind neatly groomed high hedging and you enter via electronic gates and up a cobblelock driveway, getting a good wide view of the beautifully cultivated gardens, which have been created by renowned garden designer Damien Keane. The entrance porch has a travertine stone floor and rooflights on the pitched roof, and on either side is a window seat that lifts up, offering handy storage. The owners have placed concealed storage areas throughout the house so that bits and bobs can be neatly stored away.
The travertine floor continues through the fine reception hall, which has feature wall panelling, dado rail and a bespoke cloak cabinet with bevelled glazed doors. The large drawingroom has dual aspect to the front and a large marble fireplace with decorative slate inset; it flows into the dual-aspect diningroom to the back via glazed double doors. Both rooms have wide-plank solid timber floor, and French doors open out from the diningroom to the patio and back garden.
The capacious kitchen/breakfastroom has travertine stone flooring, a breakfast island topped in granite, with a built-in wine rack and warming drawer, and more cupboard storage than you can shake a spatula at. There’s also an American-style fridge-freezer and a Belfast double sink, plus microwave, ovens, six-ring gas hob and integrated dishwasher.
From the kitchen, you step down to an impressive triple-aspect orangery, designed in a Hamptons style, made for gathering around the floor-to-ceiling fireplace, which is made of Donegal limestone. A full-height picture window gives a view out to those stunning gardens.
There’s also a large utility room to the front, with wall-to-wall fitted storage presses, a fully tiled Roman-style guest shower room and a family room with solid timber flooring and mahogany fireplace fitted with gas fire.
Upstairs are five large bedrooms, all with en suite bathrooms or shower rooms, set around a spacious landing. The largest bedroom also has a dressingroom, and you’d assume this was the main bedroom – until you go up to the second floor. Stairs with a vaulted atrium lead you into the stunning main bedroom suite, done in the style of a New York loft, with a separate bedroom and gym/yoga areas, a storage/dressingroom area, and a spa-style bathroom and wetroom. It’s all cleverly built to fit in with the slope of the roof, with lots of glazing, built-in lighting and a dormer window giving superb views over south Dublin.
The fully tiled indoor heated swimming pool is like something you’d find in a luxury hotel, and it will require a bit of upkeep. There’s a sauna here too, and a glazed floor-to-ceiling wall out to the garden. Upstairs from the pool is a huge gamesroom/entertainment area, and from there you can access a roof terrace for sunbathing on hot days.
The gardens get all-day sunshine, and there’s a patio area outside for al fresco dining, and a path circles around the back garden to a pond with a little wooden bridge and a fountain.
For the owners, Tortugas has been the perfect home, and a great place to entertain friends and family. “Every corner has been loved,” they say.
