Heatherfield on Barnhill Road in Dalkey appears unassuming at first glance, but once through the grey front door, there is nothing unassuming about this smart three-level property that has been home to television producers Jane and Ian McGarry for 30 years and for a time their daughters, Olympic skiers Kirsten and Tamsen.
When they bought the house in 1993 the previous owners had done the heavy lifting by adding a double-height extension resulting in a total area of 246 sq m (2,648sq ft). The McGarrys have continually updated and refreshed the home, reconfiguring rooms and redoing the interiors. Every room in the house has fitted cabinets and wardrobes, providing great storage.
The four-bedroom house, which has a D2 Ber, intrigues as soon as you enter the bright, light-filled hall with oak wooden floors and large roof light.
To the right of the front door is a shower room and a bedroom, followed by steps that give on to a corridor with the principal bedroom and luxurious en suite that feel like they are in their own wing. The principal bedroom is particularly striking, large with triple-aspect windows looking out over the gardens.
Housing in Ireland is among the most expensive and most affordable in the EU. How does that happen?
One in five people expect to pay mortgage in retirement, survey finds
Irish architectural great Ronnie Tallon built a home far superior to Mies van der Rohe’s original. Time to protect it
Sherry FitzGerald CEO Steven McKenna to leave firm to ‘explore new opportunities’
On the left of the hall is a well-fitted-out study, from which the couple ran their production company and, in previous years, a ski school in the French Alps. Adjacent to the study is a bedroom and shower room.
At the end of the hall is an L-shaped kitchen-dining area with a wood-burning stove set in a warm redbrick wall, and the dining area overlooks the garden and opens on to a sun terrace at the back of the house. Its elevated aspect means it gets the sun all day long and has proved to be the ideal spot for gatherings.
Another flight of steps in the hall leads down to a vast living-diningroom built underneath the old house with banks of windows looking out on to the patio and garden. Here is where the real parties happened. Jane recalls nights of music and revelry; Ian is a professional musician.
Steps lead from the dining area down to a living area, which is so large Jane compares its ambience to that of a hotel lobby and the seating arrangements reflect that. There is another bedroom on this level, which would be ideal for a guest or an au pair.
French doors slide back so you can wander on to the patio to enjoy the west-facing garden, planted with silver birch and mountain ash trees. The overall site is a quarter of an acre, and the garden is mostly in lawn. A hawthorn tree and hostas line a small pond.
Further surprises await with stairs that descend from the kitchen to the garden, which work well for entertaining; halfway down the stairs is a door that opens on to a dry cellar that the family use for storage.
For Jane, the key thing with the house over the years has been the light: “Even on a winter’s day, with all the windows, glazing and rooflights, it is never dark,” she says.
Located near the top of Castle Park road, the Barnhill Stores are close by and the property is a short walk to Killiney Hill and the villages of Glasthule and Dalkey. Bulloch Harbour, the Forty Foot and Sandycove are also within easy reach. Downsizing now their daughters have grown up, Jane is willing to leave the house but not the area. Heatherfield is on the market through Knight Frank, seeking €1.95 million.
