Mr Justice Frederick Morris and his wife Valerie are leaving their secluded period home off busy Monkstown Road. It has a guide of €2.5m, writes Kevin O'Connor
Monkstown Road is noted for its stock of splendid period homes tucked behind high walls and one of these, Beechfield, a Victorian semi-detached house with a 200 ft garden, is set for auction through Sherry FitzGerald on June 17th. The guide price is €2.5 million.
Home of Mr Justice Frederick Morris and his wife Valerie, Beechfield, a five-bedroom house, was built in 1882 by the Pim family, who also built similar homes for other members of the family in the vicinity. The Morrises bought Beechfield over 40 years ago, and over the decades it has been regularly upgraded and maintained.
It is a substantial property of gracious proportions, two storey over basement with a floor area stretching to 368 sq m (3,960 sq ft). Like several of the neighbouring houses Beechfield has its back to the road with a coach-house, now incorporated into the house, fronting onto the pavement. Gates to one side open onto a gravel driveway that brings you to the front of the house. It is surrounded by wonderful gardens recently redesigned by Patrick Bowe.
In the early summer evening, shafts of sunlight peer through the fanlight over the hall door and illuminate the entrance hall with its vaulted ceiling and Gothic tracery, period fireplace and original encaustic tiles. The craftsmanship and detail follow through to the impressive inner hall with its curved staircase, delicate cornicing and "oculus", an architectural feature unique to a house of this period: enabling you to peer to the upper landing and to one of two ornate skylights, the oculus is bordered by the same intricate banisters that adorn the main staircase. The two skylights bathe the inner hall in diffused light.
Off the inner hall there are the interconnecting dining and drawingrooms. Both are surrounded by five gracious sash windows giving views of the gardens. There are period fireplaces in each room and a pair of Waterford Glass chandeliers hangs from the ornate ceilings. The room is tall and elegant with some fine furniture, especially a number of Irish Georgian and Regency occasional tables and one card table. The breakfastroom and kitchen have views to the side garden, with its box hedges and herbaceous borders and a door off the kitchen brings you into the family room/den, which was converted from the original coach-house.
It is over 20 ft in height with an exposed granite stone and redbrick fireplace. With its comfy chairs, family photos and other memorabilia, it is less formal and looks and feels quite apart from the main house.
A simple curved staircase brings you down to the garden level where you have a combination of more reception rooms and two double bedrooms, one en suite, a laundry room, and wine and coal cellars. with a coal shoot and a wine cellar. This area has its own entrance.
Three double bedrooms and a fully-tiled family bathroom are off the main landing on the first floor. They are generously proportioned and decorated in a restrained but elegant style. The main bedroom has built-in wardrobes, fireplace and bathroom. The second bedroom has a double window with views of the glorious garden.
Traffic can be heavy and noisy on the Monkstown Road but does not intrude on the sense of calm in the garden at Beechfield. It contains a small glasshouse, a lawn sloping down to boxed hedges and beyond that is a formal allee of clipped lime trees. As we walk through the garden and look back at the house framed by the copper beech in the evening sunlight, Judge Morris says he and his wife will miss Beechfield and will take away many fond and happy memories. "It is a wonderful place to bring up a family."
For a virtual tour of this property click on nicemove.ie
