Sandymount/€2m:Felim Egan is inspired by the view of Sandymount Strand from his D4 villa; Harry Kernoff lived for 50 years in a handsome house in D8. Fiona Tyrrelland Rose Doylereport.
The endless horizon is a prominent feature in the work of Irish abstract painter Felim Egan. It is also the main view from his Strand Road home in Sandymount, which is for sale by auction next month.
Looking out towards the great expanses of sand, water and sky, Egan admits that he is preoccupied by "the sheer flatness" of the strand, which has "nothing to break it" when the tide is out.
To the left of his house are the chimney stacks at Pigeon House Road, another influence on his work, and the landmark Egan uses to navigate his way home.
The artist has lived at 17 Strand Road in Dublin 4 for 16 years and is looking to downsize. The double fronted villa-style house has a guide price of €2 million prior to auction on May 3rd through Sherry FitzGerald.
It has 180sq m (1,935sq ft) of space, as well as a large light-infused 79sq m (850sq ft) studio to the rear of the property. Back in the early 1990s, Egan paid £120,000 for the house. It was in need of some TLC and a further £60,000 was then spent on a major refurb of the property.
The house has a strong minimalist feel. White walls, original broad plank flooring and unadorned fireplaces provide a blank canvas for lots of modern art.
The most eye-catching piece is a black-and-white painting by neo-experimental German artist A R Penck in the main reception room to the front of the house.
Across the hallway is a livingroom which has steps down to an interconnected den area, with adjoining guest toilet.
These rooms were once home to Penck, who stayed with his friend Egan for a couple of years before acquiring his own Strand Road home.
The lower room is now kitted out with a fitted unit and sink, and is used as a bar for parties.
To the rear of the property is the somewhat small kitchen and an adjoining bright breakfastroom.
The unit is finished in characteristic Felim Egan colours - a grey stoney green and deep indigo and has Egan's characteristic square holes as decorative detail. The kitchen also has a handsome cast-iron range and black Portuguese limestone floor.
Both the den area and the kitchen have stairs down to two basement areas, which add 37sq m (400sq ft) to the house.
New owners may rethink the kitchen/breakfastroom at the back of the house. Knocking through to the bar/den area would make for a much larger kitchen/living area.
Upstairs are four bedrooms all with fine period fireplaces. The bathroom leads to a separate toilet, with a stained glass fanlight window.
The back garden has mature planting, including silver birch and a flowering cherry tree as well as a wooden pergola covered in passion flower.
The studio has four large picture windows in sandblasted glass overlooking the walled garden.
There is also drive-in access from Lea Road, as well as a shower room and toilet.
The house comes with full planning permission for a 2.5-metre side extension.
Dublin 8: €1.75m
With all hallmarks of its present and previous artistically inclined owners in evidence, 13 Stamer Street, Dublin 8, is a decorative delight and reassuringly comfortable to boot.
This was where artist Harry Kernoff lived for the 50 years between 1924 and 1974 and where sculptor John Behan lived for a few years after that. It is now for sale through Felicity Fox with an asking price of €1.75 million.
The vendors, who have lived here since 1980, have very much put their own creative imprint on things, with a careful eye to period detail and a nod to Harry Kernoff.
Colours and mood change with each room, original floorboards and internal doors have been stripped back. Yellows and blues highlight original cornicing and original fireplaces are a feature of each room - often painted the room's theme colour.
Built in 1884, number 13 is two-storey over basement with four bedrooms, two reception rooms and a garden level dance studio which could convert to further living space. The total floor area is 245sq m (2,640sq ft).
A kitchen, added to the ground floor in recent years, is in the style of a sunroom with a wall of windows which wrap over onto the roof. Built on supports, so as to allow light into the studio underneath, it gives shelter to a good-sized patio at garden level. The wide reception hallway has all that is best in 19th century decorative plasterwork, even to the shamrocks and plant life on either side of the traditional arch.
A wide bay window makes for light and a lovely feature to the front of the interconnecting reception rooms. Both have polished floorboards with, to the front, an aqua coloured picture rail against the palest of blue walls and, to the rear, a dusty pink rail against palest terracotta.
The main bedroom to the front - one of three on the first floor - has a silvery-pink ceiling and bank of fitted wardrobes in the same interesting finish. A shower room on this floor has hand-painted tiles by artist Rosemary Bradshaw.
The vibrant red-painted attic-style fourth bedroom at the top of the house is where Harry Kernoff had his studio. A Belfast sink in which he used to clean his brushes has been installed in the guest toilet. The landscaped garden has rear access as well as an original brick outhouse.
