Forge Field is a detached four-bedroom house built in a midcentury-modern American style on a one-acre site nestling in the foothills of the Dublin mountains. The lands used to be part of the estate of Woodtown Park, former home of the chief baron of the Irish exchequer, and Forge Field was built 40 years ago on the original location of the estate’s forge.
The current owners have extensively renovated and retrofitted the property in the past few years, making the most of the light and space and split-level design.
During Covid the owners built a big children’s play castle in the back garden, and new owners will be able to let their kids take over as its kings and queens. There’s also a basement area, accessed from outside the house, which is currently used as a gym/games room, with an adjoining loo.
Forge Field is orientated towards the south to maximise the daytime sun, and a patio and sun lounge area hint at the summer barbecues and parties that can be enjoyed in this country setting.
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Steps lead up to the porch and entrance hall; to the left, down a short flight of steps, are the four bedrooms and family bathroom; to the right, up another short flight of steps, is the open-plan kitchen/dining/lounge area. This used to be three separate rooms, but is now a bright, spacious living area whose raised height allows for great views out to the Dublin mountains on one side, and Dublin city on the other.
On New Year’s Eve, the owners can watch the fireworks over the city from the full-height kitchen window.
Across the hallway, where the original kitchen used to be, the owners have created a cosy sittingroom/den with a mezzanine home office. A generous utility room, plumbed for washer and dryer, sits off the home office, and leads out through the back entrance of the house. There’s also a guest loo.
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In the sleeping wing are four good-sized bedrooms with decent built-in wardrobe space. Bedroom one has wardrobes across an entire wall, an en suite, and a bay window with mountain views. Bedrooms three and four have full-height corner windows to bring in light and give a country atmosphere.
Forge Field is in a semi-rural location, not far from Knocklyon and Rathfarnham, and close to the M50 for easy access to Dundrum Town Centre, Dublin city centre and Dublin Airport.
What would new owners do with Forge Field? Not much needs to be done, save perhaps modernising the main bathroom. There’s also the option to reopen a small staircase that used to lead down from the kitchen/diningroom to the basement area. An easy way would be to build a trapdoor in the diningroom floor, which could be opened as needed for easy access, for instance during outdoor summer parties.
Tucked away in a corner of the garden are two large storage units measuring 16ft by 8ft, where gardening equipment, bikes and DIY tools can be stored.
Forge Field in Stocking Lane, Rathfarnham, Dublin 16 measures 174sq m (1,867sq ft) with an additional 29sq m (315sq ft) in the basement area. It has a Ber of C2 and is for sale through Sherry FitzGerald, seeking €1.65 million.
