Wicklow town: €675,000 Freddie Middleton, managing director of Westlife's record company, BMG Ireland, is selling his family home above Wicklow town as a weekly commute to London means he needs to be nearer Dublin.
The Cascades, Ballynerrin Upper, Wicklow town, a bungalow on 0.6 of an acre which has been home to himself and his wife for four years, goes on the market with Sherry Fitzgerald O'Gorman for region €675,000.
Set on an elevated site, its 200 sq m (2,160 sq ft) of light-filled interior accommodation has been designed to maximise a variety of splendid views of garden and beyond over Wicklow Bay, across to Howth on a clear day, and inward to the green and rural hinterland.
Beautifully presented with reception rooms flowing into each other, the house has a striking master bedroom suite, south and south-west facing patios and landscaped interesting gardens. A long oval drawingroom has recessed shelving, a fireplace with slate hearth fitted with Esse Dragon multi-fuel stove and chimneybreast painted a deep green. Doors open to the hall, sunroom and kitchen/diningroom.
The dining area off the kitchen is lit by six windows. It has a door opening to a west-facing sunroom which is used for informal dining, with patio door to the garden.
The large country-style kitchen is extensively outfitted in oak with terrazzo floor and two large Velux roof windows. Integrated appliances include Siemens double oven and hob, Zanussi fridge and dishwasher and Miele freezer. A central breakfast bar has a recessed wine rack and book shelves.
A door leads from the kitchen to a rear hall which has an exterior door opening on to a south-facing sun patio. The main bedroom suite comprises bathroom, dressingroom, lounge bedroom and short lobby. The bedroom runs the width of the house, is decorated in mid blue and cream and has bags of style. Its five windows, including a deep-silled V-shaped bay, offer panoramic views. Access to a walk-through dressingroom is from a short lobby and also from the bedroom.
The bathroom is tiled in midnight blue and white/grey tile with a large window dressed in crisp white lace. A carpeted step leads up to a free-standing roll top bath with gilt claw legs, and there is a separate power shower, toilet, bidet and twin pedestal wash-hand basins framed with a large gilt mirror.
A second double bedroom with built-in wardrobes and an en suite shower room overlooks a rear rockery. A third small bedroom is south-facing.
Outside, garden gates lead up to a circular shrubbery-fringed drive with ample parking in front of the house. A well-loved country-style garden wraps itself round the house. There is a west and a south-facing patio area, an elevated front lawn, fish pond, tiny pools, rockeries, steps, winding terraced paths - the whole combining variety, seclusion and those lovely views.
