An historic Georgian house on 1.1 acres adjoining Blackrock Park in Co Dublin is on the market. Orna Mulcahy reports

A Georgian house with a fascinating history in Blackrock, Co Dublin is expected to fetch over €5.5 million when it is auctioned by Lisney on September 29th.

With its copper trimmed roof, and many windows, Lios an Uisce on Rock Road is a landmark property overlooking Dublin Bay, standing on 1.1 acres adjoining Blackrock Park.

Lisney director Tom Day describes it as "one of the most interesting private houses in south Dublin", and few would disagree on entering the superb crimson hallway with its curved staircase and views over the lawn and sea.

Built in the 1750s as a modest seaside villa called Peafield Cliff, it has been substantially extended since then and now stands two storeys over basement to the front with a three-storey section to the rear.

Exceptionally bright throughout, it has the rambling layout of a country house with a floor area of 516 sq m (5,554 sq ft) and five bedrooms and six reception rooms.

An elegant pavilion in the garden is actually a caretaker's house, while a starkly contemporary house being built to the left of the property, behind a screen of trees, is the owner's newly-built home.

Lios an Uisce has been home to the Higgins family for almost 70 years, and a book published privately by the family documents its history in tremendous detail. Its most notable occupant was Lady Arabella Denny, daughter of Thomas Fitzmaurice, the first Earl of Kerry, who lived there from the 1750s until her death in 1792.

She saved the lives of thousands of abandoned babies through her patronage of the Foundling Hospital. A leading hostess of her day, she was given the freedom of the city in 1765.

Between 1873 and 1921, the house was home to the Misses Trench, twins who devoted their lives to the needy, establishing the St John's House of Rest at Merrion.

The house was later rented to Kevin O'Higgins, a founder member of the first Free State government, and according to friends and colleagues, much of the business of state was hammered out walking up and down the lawns of Lisaniskea, as it was then called.

New owners will inherit a house that may need some refurbishment work but one that has a real sense of style and importance.

The layout includes a grand diningroom at hall level, as well as a series of interconnecting rooms that end with a large kitchen and a rear hallway with a second staircase.

The basement has a big party room as well as a family room or library. The first floor drawingroom, with its wide bay windows and stunning views, is probably the finest room in the house, while the bedrooms and bathrooms are arranged on two different levels.

The grounds are mostly in lawn running down to the boundary with the park.

There are several outstanding trees on the property including ilix trees planted by Princess Dashkov of Russia, a friend of Catherine the Great, who spent Christmas with Lady Arabella in 1779.

For a virtual tour of this property, click on nicemove.ie