Druid Lodge is a wonderfully private, historical and storied home overlooking the sea in Killiney. Part-Victorian, part-Georgian, it is set on 1.2 acres of well-tended grounds. Hidden completely from the road, the laurel-laden entrance opens on to a gravelled sweep with immediate sea views on display. John Blake Dillon, the politician and Young Irelander who was exiled to the US in 1848, later returned to Ireland and married Adelaide Hart, niece of the property’s owner. In his memoir, Dillon wrote: “I associate all the happiest memories of my life with Druid Lodge.”
The current owners bought the three-level, 545sq m (5,877sq ft) house in 1979 and made the most of the six bedrooms, the large kitchen and the generous reception rooms. For a while they hosted guests, and this accounts for the separation of the house between its Victorian and Georgian sections. The eldest child had the privilege of sleeping in the granite tower in the garden, named Spite Tower; the story goes that the tower was built by previous owners in 1878 to thwart the sea views of a neighbour who built a little too close to the boundary wall.
One of the owners had a keen interest in architecture and art, and the fruits of his work are to be seen all over the protected, Ber-exempt house, in the meticulously restored and preserved original woodwork. Elaborately carved architraves and the restored stairwell are the first features to catch the eye as soon as you enter the light-filled entrance hall, along with original stripped wooden floors, a fabulous green Connemara marble fireplace and intricate coving, which is replicated in the other reception rooms. The property would benefit from modernisation in places, with upgrades executed in a such a way as to optimise its striking original features.
To the left of the entrance hall is the diningroom; the ceiling heights, both here and in the rooms on the floor above, are a lofty 4.2m high. It features a black marble fireplace with an inset stove and a tall sash window overlooking the sea. An imposing drawingroom sits to the far side of the hall, with tall windows, another lovely marble fireplace and doors that open on to a conservatory the family built in the mid-1990s.
Above the reception rooms on the first floor are the first of the bedrooms, both of which have a short flight of steps leading up to en suites with showers. All the bedrooms have fireplaces, but it is the sea views through the tall windows that induce wonder here.
A self-contained apartment lies to the rear of the ground floor with a separate entrance. It has two en suite bedrooms, a study with en suite, a family bathroom, and a kitchen-livingroom. This could be retained by new owners as a rental, used by adult children or another relative, or reintegrated into the main house; it would have been the original kitchens and staff quarters.
Stairs from the main entrance lead to the first-floor return; this is the Georgian part of the house, and the return hall has a wood-panelled sittingroom with sunroom that served as a study for the owner. Behind it lies the terracotta-tiled kitchen. This is a gorgeous space with two tall wood-framed windows with benches. An old Aga heats the room and the copious cupboards were hand-built using shutters salvaged from the Sacred Heart Convent on Leeson Street.
A pantry, two storerooms and a guest WC lie on the far side of the hall, which has blocked-off stairs leading to the ground floor, and a stained-glass, tall arch window on the stairs to the final floor. There are three pretty bedrooms here, facing west over the gardens, as well as a family bathroom, a dressingroom that could be another bedroom or, like its neighbour, a study.
In addition to the fine accommodation in the main house, Spite Tower provides a myriad of opportunities; it’s a dream escape, for child or adult alike, with two small rooms and access to the balustraded roof with extensive views over Killiney Hill, the sea and the Dublin Mountains. The gardens are lovely, with the potential to resurrect a lawn tennis court at its end, and a vegetable garden that could prove bountiful if tended to once again.
Although Druid Lodge sits in a fairy-tale-like setting, it is still convenient to all the amenities of Killiney and nearby Dalkey, with schools, the beach and the Dart nearby, and swift access to the M50. It is now on the market with Sherry FitzGerald, seeking €3.75 million.
