The owners of Teach Rua, a redbrick, red-roofed house hidden down a lane off Brighton Road in Foxrock, could teach classes on how to vacate big piles and downsize effectively.
They suggest a two-phase approach, having made their first move 22 years ago when they left Wroxton, a six-bedroom Edwardian house that fronted on to Brighton Road and which was set on four acres.
Retaining almost an acre (0.85 acre) of the mature gardens and with the help of architect Derek Heavey, now a partner at RKD Architects, they built a “smaller” detached house of 320sq m (3445sq ft). They also orientated it away from the big house and towards the southwestern sun, making use of the site’s fine mature trees to give its garden a real sense of privacy.
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The house was built for entertaining. It has a dramatic double-height entrance hall with a galleried landing and double doors opening into the formal sittingroom.
From its bay window you can see nothing but landscaped garden.
Another set of doors lead through to the formal diningroom. From there, more doors take you into the kitchen, the only room in the house that disappoints in that it doesn’t make enough of the property’s spectacular setting. The new owners might replace some of the kitchen’s exterior walls with glazing to better open up the room to the outdoors.
From the kitchen there’s a sandstone patio where you can appreciate the well-planted garden that includes numerous specimen trees, from ballerina apple to gooseberry bushes and magnolia.
Bedrooms
The first of the property’s four double bedrooms, three of which are en suite, is situated at the opposite end of the ground floor and includes a triangular window, views out to the detached garage and an en suite shower-room that overlooks the garden.
Upstairs the master bedroom overlooks the garden and has a sizeable en suite shower-room big enough to install a freestanding bath tub. This room is concealed behind a pair of wardrobe doors. There are two more bedrooms, one of which is used by the owners to make jigsaws.
With their family reared Teach Rua’s owners are on the move again; phase two of their downsize masterplan is to move into something smaller again. Agent Daphne L Kaye is seeking €1.95 million for the house, which has a C2 BER rating.
