Ash Hurst, a small estate of detached houses on large plots built in the late 1980s off Military Road in Killiney, takes its name but puzzlingly not its spelling from nearby Ashurst house, the high Victorian Gothic mansion built in the 1860s which went on to become the home of Archbishop John Charles McQuaid.
During his time in the sprawling mansion, he built a tall belfry tower, with a lift, all the better to view Killiney Bay and the Sugarloaf. That tower is visible from the houses in Ash Hurst where number 2 – Chrysalis – is now for sale, through DNG seeking €1.6 million.
The owners are downsizing from the six-bedroom, 217sq m (2,336sq ft), redbrick home where they have lived for the past 33 years and their house, which backs on to Holy Child secondary school, is likely to appeal to families trading up.
Beach proximity
The attraction of the small enclave since it was built has been that, in a neighbourhood not short of vast period houses on good grounds, it offers a more modern, easy-to-manage alternative without compromising on size or secluded gardens. Or indeed location – it’s also just a few minutes’ walk to the beach.
The owners of number 2 have extended and improved it over the years, regularly updating the interior decoration. The six bedrooms are upstairs, the largest with distant sea views has an en suite and a walk-in wardrobe. The bathroom has been updated with limestone tiling.
There is a good balance of bedrooms and living rooms and downstairs the most used spaces – the kitchen, updated in recent years, dining area and main living room – flow into each other at the back of the house, with a sun room also opening off the dining area.
Mature trees
There’s another reception room to the front, a family room and a study. New owners, particularly if they have young children, will probably use one of these rooms as a playroom and there is ample space to convert another of the rooms into a bright and spacious home office if required.
Access to the house is by electric gates and, as is the case with the other houses in the enclave, there are mature trees at the boundary and a large rear garden that is not overlooked. Rooms to the rear of the property open out to a sunny patio and barbecue area. There is parking for several cars to the front and a large detached garage built in the style of the house.
The Ber is D2 which suggests new owners might consider some energy efficiencies – a not unusual scenario in 1980s houses, particularly if they are large and detached.
