Engleberg House on Mounttown Road Lower in Dún Laoghaire is home to documentary maker Alison Lightman. The Australian purchased the south Dublin property in 2014 for €1.03 million and replumbed and rewired in addition to replacing two chimney stacks because "you could see the light coming through them and they had trees growing out the sides", she says.

Lightman’s documentary work has taken her all over the globe; she won a silver medal at the New York Film and Television Festival for her film on corrupt practices by agrochemical company Monsanto.

Her home Engleberg House was built in 1912 for a local doctor. In the 1990s the property and its grounds were purchased by a developer with the intention of knocking the house and erecting apartment blocks on the site. Following objections from local residents, the house remained, albeit on a smaller site and townhouses were constructed on the land.

Internal archway

The interior of this 215sq m property has superb proportions which are bathed in light – thanks to its many bay windows. An internal archway on the ground floor is echoed upstairs on the landing which is spacious enough to accommodate a sofa and reading area. The house has three reception rooms all of which have open fireplaces, and one is currently used by Lightman as her office. New owners may want to update the kitchen – which opens out on to the garden.

There are four fine bedrooms on the first floor and a narrow staircase leads to an attic bedroom.

The fact that the gardens, now hidden behind electric gates, are not as large as they once were is reflected in the price. Lisney is seeking €985,000 for the period property in this sought-after location.