Lisney expects bids in excess of £1.5 million (#1.9m) on March 22nd when Kilbarron, a substantial seven-bedroom semi-detached house overlooking the sea at Otranto Place, Sandycove, Co Dublin goes under the hammer.
The Tudor style double fronted house last came on the market three years ago in need of extensive refurbishment. Guided at £700,000plus then, it was acquired by a local property developer who has done a superb job restoring it, but taken away half the garden to build a mews house. The 4,000 sq ft house is now in walk-in condition and still has a reasonably-sized garden. This is an exceptionally versatile house, with no less than five reception rooms and bedrooms on three levels. It's also a very bright house, even on a dull day. All the rooms have big windows looking to sea or over the back garden which is mostly in lawn, with a very large area of decking. The wide hallway offers a view directly through to the garden through the rear facing kitchen, while reception rooms on either side give a spacious airy feel that's intensified by predominantly cream painted walls. To the left of the hall is a livingroom with a wide bay window and a marble fireplace. Sliding doors open into a smaller diningroom, though one can imagine these doors always being open to make one large room. A door leads on to a bright study, with views towards the sea on one side, and a patio on the other.
Across the hall is a very good drawingroom with another wide window and a fine Adam-style fireplace. This room opens into a family room which in turn leads into the kitchen, and into a sunroom with doors to the deck. The 20 ft kitchen has a very good range of oak units with a central island unit topped in polished granite. French doors lead to the decked patio which is very large but seemed a bit shaky underfoot.
Yet another ground floor room has been converted into a spacious guest toilet, although in a house of this size, it might have been better as a utility room. Upstairs, there is a large bathroom, bedroom and a separate toilet on the first return. The first floor has a polished oak floor running through the main bedroom suite. This includes a wonderfully large bedroom with a study area to one side, two walk-in wardrobes and a large en suite bathroom with an antique roll top bath fitted with brass taps in the shape of swans. There are three further bedrooms at this level. The top floor has two further bedrooms with charming sloping ceilings clad in tongue and groove. One of the bedrooms frames a lovely view of the sea through an octagonal window. This level also has a large shower room with the same tongue and groove walls.
