Monkstown €3m: A large period house near Monkstown village comes with large secluded gardens, writes Eivlín Roden
A five-bedroom detached period house on over half an acre off Monkstown Road in Monkstown is for auction on February 9th through Sherry FitzGerald with an advised minimum value (AMV) of €3 million. Thorndene is one of those lovely, mid-sized early 19th century houses built at right angles to Monkstown Road, hidden in a world of their own, yet beside the amenities of Monkstown village, the Dart, sea, churches and schools.
The house is accessed through electric gates at the end of a short lane. Its front door, with columns and fanlight, is up two granite steps. Beyond this, the drive opens into a large circular gravel sweep and an enormous garden reaching 88.3 metres (265ft) surrounded by trees.
Inside, the 247sq m (2,659sq ft) ensures that the main rooms benefit from the many windows looking south onto the garden, while the wide hall runs behind them with a large kitchen, utility and offices beyond the stairs to the left, opening into the paved courtyard.
Two beautiful interconnecting sittingrooms with matching white and Siena classical marble fireplaces are bathed in light from four long windows with views to the garden and a fifth looking onto the drive. The square proportions of the rooms give them a comfortable elegance - together they are 27ft long. Behind them is a diningroom with three long windows in the wall overlooking the garden, and enough space for a table to seat 12. Both reception rooms and hall have oak floors and a feeling of honey, cream and sunlight in the decoration.
The kitchen, with panelled wooden ceiling, was remodelled when the current owners moved in four years ago with white oil-fired Aga, wooden units, Neff hob, black granite work tops and Belfast sink. Light streams in from the courtyard and another room beyond it has French doors and a small utility room off it.
From the hall a shallow flight of stairs leads to a half-landing with tall panelled arch, bathroom and square bedroom. Upstairs, two of the further four bedrooms look out over the garden and the other two open into each other over the kitchen while the family bathroom with double shower unit is over the hall door, with a narrow dressingroom next to it. All bedrooms are roomy squares while the whole house has original features, including shutters, cornices and narrow oval stair rail.
