New to the market in Blackrock, Co Dublin, is a gracious Victorian house with an abundance of old-fashioned character and plenty of room - at almost 3,000 sq ft - for an expanding family. The Sherry FitzGerald agency is guiding £500,000 for Ardsallagh, at 43 Stillorgan Park, which is due to be auctioned on February 3 next.
The decision to turn Stillorgan Park into a cul-desac has transformed this once--busy through road into one of the most tranquil avenues in Blackrock. Houses on the road vary in style from substantial, modern detached properties to period houses behind mature hedgerows. Ardsallagh has been in the same ownership for a generation and has the comfortable atmosphere of a much-loved family home. Period houses such as this have a particular charm that comes from well-polished mahogany and tall ceilings. The oak-floored entrance hall is large enough to fit a sofa and a grandfather clock. The interconnecting timber-floored sittingroom and diningroom feature ornate cornicing and both rooms have original marble fireplaces. Glass doors lead from the diningroom to a flagged terrace sheltered by climbing plants.
The kitchen-breakfastroom has a gas-fired Raeburn cooker, a quarry-tiled floor and pine cupboards designed by Thierry de la Haye. There are shelves for cookery books and pots and a breakfast table stands alongside double windows smothered by a rampant clematis armandii. Off the kitchen, there is a laundry area and guest washroom.
On the first floor, there are two bedrooms, one en suite, a small study and a big family sittingroom overlooking the back garden that is evidently the heart of the house.
There are three more bedrooms and a spacious green-tiled family bathroom with a separate power shower on the top floor. Outside, the front garden is sheltered from the road by high hedges and there is an old wisteria against the wall that promises to be magnificent in early summer. The 240-ft-long back garden is lush with trees and shrubs as old as the house itself, including maple, larch and a truly spectacular acacia. There is a separate vegetable patch to the rear.
