Garden heaven: an artist’s idyll in Kilternan

"We got quite a lot more than we bargained for when we bought the land here," says photographer George Balmer of the 2.5 acre site on which his home lies. "We were looking for about a quarter of an acre but we really fell in love with it, so we bought the lot."

The house, built in 1976, was designed by the late John Porter. The brief was to take full advantage of the light and what were to become stunning gardens which surround the house. Over the course of four decades Balmer and his artist wife Elaine developed the gardens which can only be described as magical.

Bordered on one side by a stream where the Balmer children once played, the couple’s eight grandchildren now play in the meandering gardens where local deer can often be spotted frolicking about.

There are approximately 300 trees which include blue Cedar, weeping birch and willows, an orchard and a millennium copse of native Irish trees. Of particular interest is a Ginkgo biloba and a 360-year-old olive tree which resembles the Greek Titan, Atlas.

Planted for year-round colour, the gardens have the benefit of alluvial soil and are set around paths with carpets of bluebells, hellebores, Rhododendron and azaleas. The flowers on a peony tree currently in bloom are an enormous 10 inches in diameter – so large they need to be propped up.

Fruit garden

There is also a large fruit garden which is fenced to keep the visiting deer out and the family enjoyed raspberries for Christmas last year due to the mild winter. The house is a bungalow set over 260sq m, with a spiral staircase leading to Elaine’s’ studio. Every room has views to the gardens – the triple aspect living room feels like you are sitting in the garden as there is so much colour.

With three reception rooms and five bedrooms – one of which is used as a study, the property is very deceptive from the exterior. The spacious master suite has a patio where the Balmers like to have breakfast in the summer months.

While new owners will want to update the property, it is really the gardens that make Edelehr a special place. Sherry FitzGerald is asking €1.35 million for the house.