Lovingly refurbished former rectory in Delgany for €885,000

There's no fear of noisy neighbours at Alba. The house, a former rectory, is just beside a Carmelite monastery, from which Convent Road derives its name. It is for sale with Sherry FitzGerald for €885,000.

Alan and Sandra Fitzgibbon bought it in 1997 after moving back from Sandra's native Canada. "It was a complete wreck," she says.

“We were originally just coming to Ireland for three years,” says Alan, “but the kids were settled in school and we had invested so much blood, sweat and tears in the house, we decided to stay.”

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He says this with a smile, as Alba is really lovely. Detached, and on a third of an acre, it now has a large, open-plan kitchen, added by the Fitzgibbons, which would be right at home in any country interiors photo-shoot.

This leads through to a dining room and then on to a living room that is “perfect for throwing parties”, according to Sandra. The floors are a mixture of the original pitch pine, intermingled with salvaged pine that came originally from Tara Street fire station. Also on the ground floor are a family room, pantry and cloakroom.

Upstairs study room

The five bedrooms upstairs are all doubles, and there’s a further study room that could become a single if you needed more. A dressing room beside the master bedroom could also be turned into an en-suite, and the family bathroom is on this floor too. Two of the bedrooms have dual aspect, and the light here is gorgeous.

Outside, there's gravel parking at the front and an enclosed back garden with a studio to the rear. The house is full of country charm, and perfectly suits the pieces from Sandra's shop – Vintage La Touche, in nearby Greystones – that are dotted around.

“I find things from all over,” says Sandra, adding that even though the couple are downsizing now that their children are grown, they may still need a pretty large house to accommodate everything.

“This house needs a young family, I think,” she says. “We love it here, but we’re ready for something new, to take on the next project”.

Delgany is a lovely village, right in the Wicklow countryside, but with close connections to Dublin.

“When we first moved here, we had cows peering over the wall at us,” says Sandra, showing me the barbecue area.

“I found that slightly less charming,” says Alan, who built up a trellis and Virginia creeper, so that now, at Alba, you can cook your burgers untroubled by bovine scrutiny.