The well-known plant specialist Paul Cox and his wife Susan Barr are selling their Dun Laoghaire period house, which will mean leaving behind one of the most enchanting gardens in south Co Dublin.
Number 1 Crofton Avenue, lived in by Susan's family for four generations, is to be auctioned by Gunne Residential on June 21st with a guide of £450,000 (#571,380).
The six-bed Victorian house - at the end of a terrace and in a choice position just yards from the seafront and the DART station - is in need of a revamp and a new owner will have to replace the dated kitchen and bathroom fittings.
It is, however, in an very convenient location and the luxuriantly-planted gardens, professionally designed by Paul Cox, should attract a good deal of interest.
Paul is the former owner of the Hardy Plant Nursery in Ballybrack. He used old brick from his garden centre to edge the borders and created a suntrap terrace at the south-facing end of the back garden.
Scented jasmine, solanum and clematis smother a trellised archway into the garden and the stone walls on three sides are almost hidden by flowering climbers.
A winding brick path leads to the circular sitting area, which is bordered by lavender, purple wallflowers and hostas.
The rambling 2,500 sq ft house is tall, with various half-landings and rooms on five different levels. Elegant curved windows at every stage flood the stairwell with light. Ceilings are high, with simple cornicing and deep picture rails. A formal sittingroom off the entrance hall was known as "the parlour" by earlier generations of the family.
Opening on to the garden at the rear of the house are an old-fashioned kitchen and breakfastroom, which could be converted to one family-sized room.
The only bathroom in the house is at this level. There is access from here to a cellar which stretches under the front garden. On the first half-landing are one double and one single bedroom, the smaller with a period cast-iron fireplace.
A bright double room on the first floor - with two windows and a fine marble mantelpiece - was probably the original drawingroom, and could be restored to its former use. The next floor accommodates a double bedroom with a fireplace and a small kitchen area.
Because of the good views over Dublin Bay, the owners have installed a small sittingroom and kitchenette at the fourth level and there is a good-sized study here.
Two bedrooms at the top of the house have pretty sloping ceilings and superb views, and there is a separate toilet with a low window under the eaves.
The front garden is neat and informally planted with lily of the valley, hostas and peonys. Virginia creeper covers the front wall and an old variety of rambling rose grows over the railings.
