A period house with a restored walled garden on four acres in Rathmichael, Co Dublin is secluded – but near the N11
THE OPPORTUNITY to live in a rural setting, close to the mountains, yet still near Dublin is one of the reasons that draw people to Rathmichael.
Cuilin, a large period house on Allies River Road, also provides a real sense of privacy as it is on four acres of mature gardens, including a stunning walled garden.
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Built in 1848, the five-bedroom house must have been the centre of a large working estate as there are several stone outbuildings around a cobbled courtyard, that could be renovated and put to some use, as well as a detached coach-house that has been renovated by its current owners. It is for sale through Lennox Estates for €4.15 million.
The owners bought the house, which has 396sq m (4,265sq ft), in 1998 and at the time it was in good condition, only requiring decoration and minor changes. The family concentrated their efforts outside, bringing back the walled garden which had fallen into disrepair, restoring the derelict coach-house and stables and creating a walkway through the woodland part of the garden.
Inside the house follows a classic layout of four principal rooms downstairs, four upstairs and there is quite a grand entrance as the glazed porch opens into a wide hallway which in turn leads, via double doors, into an internal hallway. One of the bay-windowed rooms to the front is a formal diningroom, the other a livingroom. At the back there is another livingroom on one side of the hall, which like the adjoining modern timber conservatory opens out onto a patio.
The eat-in kitchen has been modernised with cream country-style units with black granite worktops and extended to make space for a dining table. The large return contains a utility and tack room at hall level while upstairs it holds a double bedroom and a bathroom.
A particularly attractive and indeed, grand, feature of the house is the curved walled landing with its decorative plasterwork, the tall bow-topped window and the curved bedroom doorways.
The walled garden is just short of an acre and when the current owners bought it, there was planning permission there for a house. In a rare decision during the Celtic Tiger period, they let that lapse, preferring to restore the garden with its walkways of old box hedging – although going again for planning is something new owners might consider. As well as the coach-house, which is home to a fully working bar as well as stables and a games room, there is also a separate building used as a home office.
Cuilin is the last house on Allies River Road, so there is no passing traffic and it is reached at the end of a long driveway. It once stood on considerably more land but some of it, to the front at least, was shorn off when the N11 was constructed so it is now close to the road although it is entirely screened from it by tall old trees and hedging.
