Little money was spared when the owner of Torry, a large and lavish house in Foxrock, embarked on a big renovation of her house in 2010. Originally a bungalow, the house is now a 473sq m (5,091sq ft) two-storey four-bed in walk-in condition in the middle of two acres of beautifully maintained gardens.
She wanted a New England-style house with interiors that blend classic and contemporary looks: Torry has lots of bright, open-plan spaces, all designed to give best views of the garden. It’s also luxurious, with marble-tiled floors, two Hamptons conservatories, a wrought-iron circular staircase and chandeliers everywhere. The owner says she has a weakness for chandeliers, which she sources from Irish company Clancy Chandeliers; they made one specially to hang over the stairwell in the front hall. Architect Patrick Shaffrey supervised the renovation and interior designer Helen Turkington the fabrics. All the windows are Marvin timber windows and there’s underfloor heating throughout. It has a B3 Ber rating.
Torry sits at the end of a long tree-lined private road off Brighton Road, near the junction with Kerrymount Avenue, in Foxrock, Dublin 18; it’s for sale through Lisney Sotheby’s for €5 million.
The main reception rooms are at the left of the large marble-floored front hall. A TV/family room has an Adams-style fireplace, wide plank oak floor and double doors opening on one side into the kitchen, on the other into the large drawingroom. It’s a large, bright, oak-floored room with different seating areas and a dining table in a high-ceilinged conservatory at the side. It has an Adams-style fireplace and is furnished with period-style furniture. All the rooms open on to a large patio.
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The marble-floored kitchen/diningroom at the front of the house is from Louth company Christoff; the walls, as in most of the house, are painted white, contrasting with grey units, a black marble-topped island and countertops and a black Aga. There’s a large American sub-zero fridge and two undercounter sub-zero drawer fridges, a pantry with a sink and a utility room. A dining table sits next to bow-shaped windows looking on to the garden.
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At the end of the kitchen is the Hamptons conservatory which the owner describes as an orangery, different from a conservatory she says as it’s a separate room. It’s large, with a crema marfil-tiled floor, coal-effect gas fire and a fully-glazed roof – sensors open roof windows if it gets too hot, and close them if it rains. Double doors on both sides open on to patios.
Other downstairs accommodation includes a room fitted out as a gym/mirror-lined dance studio for one of the owner’s daughters – she’s a world medal-holding champion Irish dancer. There’s a study at the front of the house and a double bedroom with an en suite and a walk-in dressingroom. There are also a row of built-in closets in a short hall that lead to a downstairs toilet with a chandelier.
A curved brass-topped wrought-iron staircase (made by Bushy Park Ironworks) leads to the top floor, where there are three double bedrooms. The main bedroom has a regal flavour, with a throne-like bed (from company And So to Bed), matching Venetian-style mirrors and a chandelier. It also has a large walk-in dressingroom and handsome en suite with a bath and mosaic-tiled shower. A wide bay window overlooks the back garden. The two other bedrooms both have large en suites.
Three gardeners come once a week to tend the two-acre gardens which surround the house: high hedges shelter smooth green lawns, a variety of trees – including a large magnolia and very large cherry tree – dot the garden. A statue of Venus stands in the middle of a pond surrounded by box hedging in the front lawn, and there’s a corner of woodland near the front gate.
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Brighton Road in Foxrock has seen a lot of development activity in the past decade, with expensive new homes built on sites formed from large gardens in the neighbourhood. There are three other houses on the private lane – owned by, and included in the sale of Torry – off Brighton road. Across the lane from Torry, a single 508sq m (5,468sq ft) house is being built.
Torry featured in property news in 2017 when it went on the market for €4.65 million but was withdrawn from sale. The owners of Torry were granted permission to build a house at Rockfield, a site next door, some years ago but there are no immediate plans to build there.
