It is a magical property in an excellent location on 25 acres – and at €6.5 million Ashtown Lodge could be heaven in Dublin, writes UNA MULLALLY
ON 25 ROLLING acres with three substantial buildings, Ashtown Lodge is expansive to say the least, and one of the quirkiest properties you could find in Dublin. The owners, the O’Reilly family of the well-known Dublin company Merlin Motors, have lived there for 30 years.
Originally on the market earlier this year, the property, consisting of a coach house, gate lodge and Ashtown Lodge itself, is now being sold by Knight Frank, with a guide price of €6.5 million.
A mile-long circuit of paths through the grounds takes you past rolling lawns featuring various quirks, including what looks like an “underground church” but is in fact a large steeple planted mid-lawn. The 12th lock of the Royal Canal provides a waterside walk, past 10,000 daffodils, an orchard with 100 apple trees, and an endless array of other vegetation.
There are stables, should the new owner want to keep horses, and large sheds where the current owner previously undertook an African Grey parrot breeding programme. There are references to parrots elsewhere, too: an aviary in the garden of the gate lodge, and another indoor/outdoor cage for a macaw downstairs in the main house. You’ll spot squirrels, rabbits and pheasant, along with a resident heron who spends most of his time gobbling the frogspawn from the numerous water features around the estate.
At the entrance stands the gate lodge, renovated twice, and now housing a substantial, well decked-out kitchen complete with an Aga and Miele appliances. Off that, there’s an oddly oversized living room for entertaining, with a grand piano in the corner. It’s child-friendly, too, with two playrooms upstairs and downstairs along with a master bedroom kitted out with matching dressing-rooms.
On the far side of the grounds is the mock converted coach house, built on the site of a hen run 20 years ago, with a large clock dominating the front facade. At every turn throughout the estate, surprises leap out, the biggest one here being a 20-metre indoor blue mosaic swimming pool and changing room behind a door off the large kitchen. If swimming isn’t your bag, there’s a tennis court a stone’s throw away. Bookended by two living-rooms, the ground floor also features a bedroom with a dressing-room and a large bathroom. Upstairs there are five more bedrooms, including a massive master bedroom overlooking the garden’s fountain. The other side of the house overlooks the apple orchard.
To Ashtown Lodge itself, and one wing has been extensively renovated, creating a three-storey house attached to the main building. The living area is split with a rather nice kitchen, the ubiquitous Aga and a view that looks out onto a walled garden. Upstairs, there’s a large master bedroom with a bathroom and dressing room.
Behind the walled garden lies a dramatic and extensive fountain, which flows out the lodge’s garden ha-ha style, so from a distance the lawn looks unbroken, apart from protruding elephant statues. There are remnants of a fruit garden too, with pear, plum and apple trees.
The main house, of Tudor origins with Georgian additions, couldn’t be more different to the other properties, an explosion of antiques and Bossy fireplaces. Little bespoke furniture remains, as once former residents, the musical Walton family departed the property, much of it was sold to furnish Strokestown House.
With fireplaces in every bedroom (there are four main bedrooms and three bathrooms, along with separate two-bedroom staff quarters in the basement) and occasionally dipping ceilings referencing the house’s Tudor origins, it is light-filled and downright unusual, with a trapdoor on the mezzanine-like entrance to the main living room, and an expansive kitchen, raised to enhance the view of the garden.
There’s a higgledy-piggledy and occasionally magical sense to this property, with bits added on, renovated, and often feeling tossed together. Its expanse is quite awkward, although there’s definitely potential for an embassy or luxury hotel group to step in and capitalise on what the neighbouring Castleknock folk might label its utterly “random” nature.
Ashtown Lodge, Ashtown, Castleknock, Dublin 15
On 25 acres, includes main lodge, coach house, gate lodge, 20-metre swimming-pool, walled garden, stables
Agent: Knight Frank
