In her study at her home in Enniskerry, Co Wicklow, prolific Irish novelist, Cathy Kelly, peruses shelves of her own books, in a myriad of translations and editions, to find her favourite cover – a Japanese edition with kittens on the front, though the novel includes no mention of cats, she says.
Although the books in her study are her own, books by other writers adorn almost every shelf at Ridgewood House on Crookstown Lane, a collection Kelly will likely have to cull soon as she has decided to start a new chapter of her own and downsize to a smaller home, placing this 446 sq m (4,797 sq ft) vastly extended cottage on the market through Vincent Finnegan estate agents, seeking €1.75 million. It has a C3 Ber.
Kelly published her first novel, Woman to Woman, in 1997, and bought Ridgewood House in 2001, having been charmed by the romance of the then much smaller property while walking her dog along the road. As with most of the houses in the area, it had once been part of the Powerscourt Estate, she says. An old neighbour, who she would give lifts into Bray when the weather was bad, told her the property had been known locally as Ms Primrose’s Cottage after its previous owner, who he described as “a tough cookie”.
Before she moved in, in 2003, Kelly had the property transformed with a three-storey side extension, and a further extension in 2004 made this a spacious five-bedroom home with four generous reception rooms.
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Ridgewood is private, hidden from the road on approach. Entering through electric gates and advancing downhill, the side of the arts-and-crafts-style property gradually comes into view behind replete beds of shrubs and flowers, with a cute upstairs half-moon window in its facade and a big window curving out from the kitchen downstairs.
There is an ample driveway and a garage to the front of the house, as well as the first view of the rolling fields beyond, where deer are often spotted, Kelly says. The house has a lovely porched entryway leading into the entrance hall, with the welcoming kitchen/breakfastroom housed within part of the property’s original structure on the right.
The kitchen/breakfastroom features cream wooden units and a pop of red from a display cabinet, with a cream Smeg range at its centre, as well as a double-door fridge-freezer and a second full-height freezer behind a cupboard. A round kitchen table occupies the nook created by the curved window; it’s a charming spot looking out to stone walls and plants and, Kelly says, it is her favourite place to sit in the house.
Off the kitchen is a big utility room, fitted out in glossy red, with a pulley washing line and plenty of storage, with one cupboard housing a Bake Off-style KitchenAid mixer that Kelly says she loves, in red of course, to match the decor.
The kitchen opens on to a big family/diningroom painted in yellow and grey with a big rectangular wooden dining table toward the window and two plump two-seater sofas orientated towards the TV, which has a decorative alcoves on either side. This is probably the most used room for relaxing in the house and is home to the tower for the family’s Siamese cat, Juno, who Kelly says rules the house.
This room leads on to the extension added in 2004 – described as a granny flat by the selling agent – where there is another substantial livingroom with mustard textured walls and a dining area with built-in desks and storage on the ground floor, and an en-suite double bedroom and a bathroom on the first floor.
In the other wing of Ridgewood, Kelly’s study sits to the front of the house, with a dual aspect, while the hallway outside has a wall of built-in cupboards, all shelved for books. At the end of the hall is a drawingroom, which Kelly says has been featured in the media so often, it needs its own agent. This is a gorgeous, big room for entertaining, with the central window framing the view of fields and trees beyond. There is also an en-suite double bedroom on this floor.
Downstairs is another livingroom, featuring a bubble chair hanging from the ceiling; this room could be used as a sixth bedroom for guests if required as it has an en suite shower room attached.
On the first floor the principal bedroom suite is impressive with an en suite and a dressingroom of dreams, featuring an abundance of opaque drawers and clothes and shoe racks. It is hived off from the bedroom, which is accessed up two steps and gets lots of light from high shuttered windows on both sides. There are two further good-sized double bedrooms on this floor, as well as the main bathroom and a spacious hot press.
On about an acre, the lush gardens at Ridgewood House certainly add to its appeal. To the rear there is a deck off the drawingroom and a paved patio off the “granny flat”, both overlooking the substantial lawn bordered by mature trees, including Japanese maple, weeping willow and Scots pine. The aspect allows you to see the Irish Sea in the distance, and from here Kelly and her sons would watch the annual Bray Air Show. The garden is also completely fenced in so Kelly’s two Jack Russells can run free.
This beautifully looked-after home would suit buyers looking for space, privacy and seclusion. Although it feels like you’re in the middle of nowhere at Ridgewood, it is less than a four-minute drive to Enniskerry village and just a 12-minute drive to Bray, from where you can take a 40-minute Dart journey to Dublin city centre. The N11, which leads on to the M50, is a five-minute drive away.
