From Sorrento grandeur to Art Deco cool in Blackrock

Woodlands Park is an unexpected oasis of calm between the two heaving arteries of the N11 and the Rock Road that daily ferry suburban commuters to and from Dublin city. Set well in from Mount Merrion Avenue, this gently winding road comprises mainly 1930s era detached homes on generous sites.

It seems a far cry from the gleaming strip of sea-facing Victorian homes that in headier times gained status as "millionaire's row" on Dalkey's Sorrento Terrace, but here is where Supreme Court judge Frank Clarke and academic Jacqueline Hayden chose to relocate when they sold number 5 Sorrento Terrace for €4 million back in 2004.

At the time number 29, like its neighbours, was a substantial detached family home of about 2,000sq ft with a lengthy south-facing garden. It wore all the hallmarks of a 1930s build from the pebbledash exterior to clusters of narrow bottled glass windows typical of the era.

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Distinctive design

Agent Jacqui Tallon of Beirne Wise says Clarke and Hayden were looking for a completely different design style when they departed the Victorian grandeur of Sorrento Terrace. Clarke has an interest in architecture and was very much involved in the refurbishment of number 29. While their priority was a bigger house closer to the city, they also wanted to retain the integrity of the distinctive 1930s design that characterises the locale.

The house, set on a quarter of an acre, has more than doubled in size to 4,600sq ft, but the art deco origins remain on the façade in the cluster of narrow glass block windows. A translucent glass corner entrance at the base of a centred sage green feature wall offers a hint to the contemporary home that lies within.

Tall double-glass panes open into the vast reception hall, and the immediate impact is one of light, space and natural materials. The double height pitched atrium, silk stone floors and white walls make it feel almost like a gallery space, and the owners’ apparent and varied passion for art is evident on every wall. A stone staircase with glass balustrade sweeps upwards to a gallery landing flooded with light from the glass block windows, off which each of the property’s four double bedrooms (with en suite) are located. It’s unusual to find just four bedrooms in a property of this size, but it was obviously a design choice to accommodate the statement entrance.

In fact, the property is completely bespoke and tailored to the owners’ love of comfort and light. Off the main hall are the kitchen/family area, diningroom and drawingroom. Each is interlinked so there’s a lovely flow through the rooms. Each one is also connected by a single frameless curved glass wall spanning the entire rear of the property, so sunlight pours through all day from the south facing garden.

Dramatic sweep

Seating areas have been arranged in both the kitchen and drawingroom to make the most of these suntrap settings, and a stone patio runs the length outside.This would also be an excellent party house. Viewed from the rear garden, the dramatic sweep of green tinted glass on the ground level lends an unexpected glamour that contrasts hugely with the front.

Architect Peter Roberts led the refurbishment project and looking at the tailored SieMatic kitchen, Antica silk stone and brushed almond stone floors, and Austvision glass technology, the job probably cost at least another €1 million in addition to the almost €2 million price paid for the original property.

Despite all the windows and stone however, the house – which has an efficient B2 BER rating – has a liveable feel. The natural unpolished stone floors and solid oak doors add warmth. There are also fireplaces dotted everywhere – some gas-fired, though there are two open fires in the hall and drawingroom. That one features a raised fireplace with open grate and a deep red chimney breast. The deep red theme runs through the receptions in tall, curved wall-mounted radiators, and the red ceiling in the kitchen works well against the truffle brown veneer of the kitchen cabinetry and luxurious limestone worktops.

There’s a nice marriage of carefully chosen period furniture with pared back contemporary design. There’s also reassuring evidence of comfort winning out over style in the cosy, almost country kitchen arrangement of a rocking chair and mismatched easy chairs around the fire at the end of the kitchen. This feeling is enhanced by the big old pine kitchen table, and in the double study to the front of the house, the organised chaos of well thumbed books and stationery. Books also play a starring role on an entire wall in the drawingroom, while two walls off the snug livingroom to the front are given over to cube-shaped bookshelves. All these touches combine to make the house feel homely.

Landscaping

Typically enough, doubling the accommodation space comes at the cost of the garden, but at about 75ft by 60ft it would still be adequate for most people’s needs; the dog run currently to the side could be reincorporated.

New owners may want to remove some of the abundant greenery to allow more light through. The landscaping is more evident in the front garden in specimen plants, trees and mature hedging worked around paved paths, box hedges and the pebbled driveway.

Clarke and Hayden have decided to move on now their family has grown up, though they plan to remain in the Blackrock area, albeit in a smaller property. Number 29 Woodlands Park is on sale through Beirne Wise for €2.75 million.