Ardara, a detached Edwardian redbrick house in Bray, is the first house on Killarney Road, the road on the right where Bray’s Main Street forks into Killarney and Vevay roads.
It stands on a third of an acre behind the distinctive old townhall/McDonald’s building at the top of Main Street. Set well back from the road, it’s surprisingly quiet for a house so close to Bray’s bustling town centre.
The house has been modernised but has plenty of original period details, such as arched Gothic windows, the carved wooden roof over the front porch, timber banisters, sash windows, original tiled fireplaces nearly everywhere and a front hall with original coloured tiles and Gothic arches.
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Ardara is a 223sq m (2,400sq ft) six-bedroom house for sale by private treaty through DNG for €1,125,000. It comes with a fully converted mews at the side of the house which could be used as accommodation, perhaps for an au pair or for adult children.
The daughters of the present owners – who have been in Ardara for 29 years – all lived here at some stage. The house has had only three owners since it was built in 1904.
It’s a traditional house, with a livingroom and separate dining room opening off the front hall. The livingroom has a deep bay window and a large marble fireplace with handsome inset tiles. Steps from the hall lead down to the back of the house where there’s a bright modern kitchen, a good-sized utility room and a comfy TV room with a solid fuel stove.
This is a tall house, with bedrooms on two returns overlooking the back garden. On the first return, there’s a bedroom and across the landing a very modern fully-tiled wet room with shower. On the second return, above the first floor, are two more bedrooms and a toilet. Steps from there lead up to a relatively small attic.
Perhaps the most impressive room in the house is the large booklined study on the first floor. It is a traditional study with a huge desk, looking onto the front garden through two tall Gothic windows. The main bedroom, which also looks to the front, is lined with smart cream-coloured wardrobes.
The mews is a good size, with kitchen, bathroom and bedroom, with a huge walk-in closet, downstairs and a large open-plan living area up spiral stairs.
Ardara’s gardens circle around it. There are large lawns, mature trees, a raised patio area at the back and a walnut tree standing by an old stone wall at the bottom of the garden.
There’s also lots of space for parking at the front – more than a dozen cars managed to park there for a grandchild’s recent First Communion party, says the owner.
