The owners of this Alexander Strain-built redbrick are moving to Kerry
PAUL AND PAULA Duff have been living a double life. For the past six years they’ve been spending their summers running the Lighthouse Café on the remote westerly edge of Europe, Valentia Island, Co Kerry, then in winter switching to a very urban existence in Glasnevin, Dublin 9, where they own a redbrick.
Now that their children are reared they’ve decided the time has come to sell their Alexander Strain-built city house at 36 Iona Crescent, and spend more time in their holiday home.
“We’re spending so much time in Kerry and the kids just use this place as bed and laundry, so we’ve decided to sell,” says Paula. “This place needs life in it again. It’s the kind of house that needs people coming and going and things going on.” Lisney is asking €750,000.
The Duffs bought Iona Crescent 21 years ago and a new owner will have very little to do to it. The reception rooms are typical of Strain houses – well proportioned with high ceilings and sash windows. The drawingroom has a bay window and the original white marble fireplace. The connecting diningroom has the same fireplace, but in brown marble, a Strain feature.
Steps lead from the diningroom down to the kitchen which manages to be sleek, modern and homey all at the same time. On the recently extended side of the kitchen the units are white and high gloss and there’s a double Belling oven and a big island with a solid oak worktop.
The original part of the kitchen is more relaxed and traditional with a solid fuel stove and original pine dresser.
What was once the maid’s room is now a utility room and the old larder under the stairs is still used. At 160sq m (1,722sq ft) the surprise is that there are only three bedrooms. One has been converted into a spacious bathroom with an antique, claw-foot bath and a circular shower and cast- iron fireplace. The old bathroom is now a study and there’s a guest toilet. The main bedroom is a big, bright room to the front of the house with a fireplace and built-in wardrobes. There are two other double bedrooms, the one at attic level has a shower en suite and eaves storage.
The tranquil and secluded 49ft garden is divided into two informal patio areas with raised planting and three storage sheds.
Paula Duff says that while they are looking forward to spending more time in Valentia, even rural idylls don’t come without their problems.
They are “90 per cent decided” they won’t re-open the Lighthouse Cafe this summer. The cafe is known worldwide for its home-made breads, soups, stews and chowder and its magical location, looking out across the bay with views of the mountains. It adjoins their farmhouse and the food was largely made from ingredients grown by Paul on their acre-and-a-half farm.
Part of the reason for their decision is cold, hard economics, says Paula, who put in 15-hour days in the kitchen.
“We were there as tourist attraction, enticing people onto the island. It was never our intention to make a fortune, it was a lifestyle change but you have to take stock when it becomes all encompassing and you are getting nothing in return. Paul would be in the fields and there would be people coming up to him oohing and aahing about the cafe and how great a setting it has but I’d have been in the kitchen since 6.30 in the morning and wouldn’t have seen anybody.”
Another factor in their decision was that they were finally worn down by red tape and the local authority’s requirement that they meet prohibitively costly health and safety requirements “even though it’s a small restaurant that’s mostly outdoors”, the lack of any grants to make those changes, and the council refusing them permission to convert old stone sheds into seaweed baths.
“We are not looking for people to take up the cause on our behalf or to launch a crusade. We’ve dealt with it all in our own heads and when we were refused permission by Kerry County Council for the seaweed baths, there were loads of people offering to protest but our attitude was ‘leave it be’.”
They are planning to make a small living by selling vegetables and home-made breads and will keep a bolthole in Dublin. They remain undaunted by the prospect of wild winters and rain storms on an island in the Atlantic. “The winters can also be magnificent with cold, crisp days and there’s nothing nicer than a big fire. If you were a social animal you might go mad, but we’re very happy to keep to our own devices, and enjoy the peace and quiet.”
While Iona Crescent has served its purpose in their lives, Paula can’t foresee them ever selling their Valentia farmhouse.
“If somebody came along and wanted to give us millions I wouldn’t sell. You would really never get anywhere like it in Ireland, the view is used on postcards and calendars and we have it from our front garden.”
