Knowth Cottage is one of those deceptive houses that gives scant indication from the front of what treasures lie behind the bungalow’s exterior. Set in a beautiful location in the Boyne Valley with the Neolithic heritage sites of Knowth and Newgrange close by, this is a 1970s bungalow that has been completely renovated with style and flair.
At first sight, the grounds immediately impress with meticulously maintained gardens and mature planting. This was the family home to one of the owners and they have done a fantastic job bringing it up to date, complete with a B3 Ber.
As soon as the front door opens, the flair, which is everywhere in both the house and gardens, is on display. Terracotta-coloured tiles add warmth to the entrance hallway and on the right, to the front of the house, is a small sittingroom, with built-in units on either side of the fireplace and louvred shutters on the window, a feature also present in the bedrooms to the front of the house.
There are three bedrooms, one is used as an office, and a big dressing area off the principal bedroom, which could be reworked into an en suite if desired. The 140sq m (1,506sq ft) home is likely to appeal to downsizers, couples or small families.
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The bathroom with its complete renovation increases the sense of this being a new build. With a bidet, handsome timber under-sink unit and a large shower, the tiles are a mixture of mosaic in grey and cream and work together to create a serene space.
The back of the house has the room with all the wow factor and it blends beautifully into the gardens and patio that surround it through huge picture windows. It’s an open-plan kitchen-dining-livingroom with fantastic light, a southerly orientation with the sun pouring in through rooflights, and extra wide pitch pine plank flooring, adding colour and warmth to the all-white interior. The kitchen has a large island with a sink, a wine cooler and a white quartz countertop. There’s an adjacent utility room with extra storage and a small bathroom off the utility.
A long large pergola built over the patio leads to the extensive gardens. The gardens are mature and well planted and nicely delineated into different areas by a fence beside the house.
There’s a large garden shed and a newly constructed outbuilding that could serve as an office and quite the ideal office it would be, being set so far apart from the house. It overlooks the garden, is connected to water and electricity and has a WC.
Slane is the nearest village and Drogheda is 8km away, so there are plenty of education options, though school runs will be in the car. Access to Dublin is swift, thanks to the proximity of the N2 and the M1 motorways, and the property is a 30-minute drive from Dublin Airport.
Knowth Cottage is for sale through Sherry FitzGerald Reilly, seeking €450,000.