Romantic schoolhouse refurb in Wicklow valley

A restored schoolhouse in the Glencree valley feels like it's in the heart of the country, even though it's a just 10-minute drive from Enniskerry village. Windows from its wide livingroom/diningroom look over to the Sugar Loaf and Maulin mountains, across a lovely 1.25-acre garden that slopes down through woodland to a stream that marks the boundary of the property.

The carefully tended garden is among the chief attractions of this unusual property. A steeply sloping glossy green lawn, sheltered by tall trees, is dotted with flowerbeds; a timber deck looks over the valley.

Built in 1821, the Church of Ireland-owned property had ceased being a schoolhouse but was still being used for religious services when it went to auction in 1988. It was in poor condition but David Whitley bought it for around €45,000 and embarked on extensive renovations.

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Now David and his wife Mary are selling their 118.7sq m (1,278sq ft) home through Sherry FitzGerald by private treaty for €745,000.

Spacious and stylish upstairs, Annacrevy is more small-roomed country cottage downstairs. Upstairs, where the schoolroom would have been, is a large open-plan livingroom/diningroom/study. Downstairs, where the schoolmaster and his family would have lived, are the kitchen, bathroom and three bedrooms, two of them very small. A trapdoor in the livingroom opens to reveal ladder-like stairs connecting the two levels. This has worked for the Whitleys, who had made several plans to build a staircase between the two floors. But “Mary and I got used to it – now we can go up and down carrying a tray,” says David.

Wooden beams

The top floor is one long, bright comfortable room with a polished timber floor and exposed wooden beams in a vaulted ceiling; it runs from gable end to gable end. There are arched windows in each gable, and four deep windows looking towards the mountains, a wood-burning stove at the diningroom end and an open fire in the livingroom. The house also has oil-fired central heating. Whitewashed walls make a perfect backdrop for the couple’s art – they run an online art business, The Whitley Art Gallery.

The front of Annacrevy Schoolhouse  faces the valley and the mountains, with its back to the road. A door from the road opens straight into the top floor, but the front door, opening into the downstairs space, is around the corner, down a wide-gravelled driveway that has space to park several cars.

Water for the house comes from a well with a filtration system as well as from a spring, and there’s a septic tank. There are two outbuildings next to the house, used for storage, and potential to expand.