Burrow Beach, long hailed as one of Dublin's finest 1.2km shoreline walks, is part of the spit of land connecting Howth Head to the mainland. It stretches from Sutton Golf Club to Howth, has a dreamlike union with nature, the softest of sands and views of Ireland's Eye and Lambay in the distance.
Burrow Road houses back on to Burrow Beach and have all the advantages and pleasures of close connection. No 6, on the market for the first time since 1990, has thriving, well-tended gardens back and front, interiors that live thoughtfully with the house’s 1895 origins, and a rear garden gate opening directly on to grassy dunes and the spreading beach beyond.
The front approach along Burrow Road is also something to shout about, with tall trees, rampant nature and the Dart line to one side, and large, well-set back houses on the other.
The vendors paid €120,000 for No 6 at auction in 1990. They thought themselves lucky to get it and have continued to think so ever since. They're downsizing but will be staying in the area. Agent Sherry FitzGerald is seeking €1.395m for the 189sq m (2,034sq ft) house.
No 6, part of a Victorian terrace, has not been extended by the vendors but has been updated (including a new roof in 2003) and modernised while keeping faith with original plasterwork, tiling, fireplaces (marble and cast-iron), woodwork, doors and high ceilings.
A long, cream painted kitchen/breakfast room stretches into the even longer rear garden. The floor is tiled in polished Spanish terracotta. The bespoke fittings have a rustic style, and a gas-fired Aga fits into an original, tiled chimney breast with mantel.
The formal reception rooms give the strongest sense of the original house. The front, south-facing, lived-in drawing room has an almost floor-to-ceiling bay window, picture rail and stunning, original marble fireplace. The ceilings here, as well as in the dining room and hallway, are 13ft high.
The vendors call the dining room their “Christmas room”, and it’s easy to see why. This space of polished elegance has an old hardwood floor, burgundy walls, ornate, period-style cast-iron radiator, darkly luxuriant marble fireplace and window on to the rear garden.
Upstairs the first return has a small, blue-tiled bathroom and bedroom with expansive views. A large bedroom off the first floor landing was made smaller and given an adjoining shower room. A third, front-facing bedroom is in use as a study and the fourth, main bedroom has another bay window, decorative cast-iron fireplace and fitted wardrobes.
A block-built garage at the end of the rear garden could be a workshop. The garden itself, what the vendor calls “a seaside garden that gets battered and survives”, has a glowing weigela tree, lavender, sedum and foxgloves – all of them more than surviving.
