WITH views out to sea, across Dún Laoghaire, and back towards Dalkey quarry, this house has a comfortable mix of country and urban which is reflected in its cottage-like interior mixed with modern elements.
The character of Mount Carmel Ville, Arbrugh Road, Dalkey, was apparent to Janie Lazar, modern furniture specialist, and architect Peter Cully, when they viewed it 1994. “When I first walked in the sense of place was apparent – I felt that this was a happy house,” says Lazar, who runs the company Design Classics Direct. “I knew it was somewhere very special, although it was in need of love.”
And that’s what they gave the house which is now for sale at €695,000 through Felicity Fox.
The house needed both structural work – water was running down the walls and there was bare earth beneath the ground level floorboards – and reconfiguring. Out came the warren of rooms on the ground and first floors (indeed even the actual floor came out), to create three bedrooms and a bathroom on the ground floor and a kitchen and open-plan living/dining space upstairs.
Later a diningroom was added above a flat roof at the back. Its extensive glass and eastern aspect capture the morning light making it a haven for bright breakfasts and they also mean, says Lazar, that when friends visit by ferry you can watch them sail in and then jump in the car to collect them as they are about to dock.
The accommodation in the 135sq m (1,453sq ft) detached house is a reverse of the traditional arrangement of bedrooms upstairs and living space downstairs – because that way you didn’t get the best of the fantastic views. To make more of the vista a tall window was added to the kitchen at the back.
You enter the house at the cottagey ground level, which is floored in coir matting and painted in strong, natural colours, including a gorgeous cornflower blue hall. Upstairs the feeling is more contemporary. Here the main room is swimming in light from the original sash windows and added Velux rooflights: and the painted white walls work with this, as do the floors which are in oak. Its a space that can take a mix of styles: at the moment a Lloyd Loom chair picked up in a London charity shop sits beside some of the Modern classics that Lazar sells such as the Harry Bertoia dining chairs and a Corbusier chaise longue in the living room.
Engaging with the peaceful house’s country aspect you can walk in Dalkey quarry, on Killiney Hill and head down the Cats Ladder steps on Vico Road to swim. For urban life, Dalkey village is a 10-minute walk down the hill (and longer to get back).
Mount Carmel Ville, Arbrugh Road, Dalkey, Co Dublin
Lovingly restructured three-bedroom home
Agent:Felicity Fox
