Dalkey offers the best of village life in a maritime setting, where you never know who you might meet while out sea swimming or sipping a pint in Finnegan’s. Actor Matt Damon was the latest in a long line of celebrities to call the place home, setting social media channels alight last summer with selfies of locals pictured with the A-lister.
Many of its homes are secreted off main roads and enjoy absolutely breath-taking views of Dublin Bay. Seaspray, a five-bedroom detached house at the end of Beulah Court, a small gated street off Harbour Road, has 25 metres of premier-league sea frontage that makes it particularly worthy of attention. The property’s real charm is that the 1990s-build, which is set on almost 0.5 of an acre, extends down to the high water mark.
Its granite walled garden has a gate where steps could be installed to take you down to the rocks below, or you can use the shared access lane to the coastal path to Rocklands harbour, which Seaspray has shared use of, along with the occupants of Beulah Court and Rocklands. There is a sheltered slipway here where you can swim or launch small pleasure craft or a paddleboard or kayak.
One of six detached homes situated in a small gated enclave, the garden is laid out in lawn with a terrace and a sheltered, sunken barbecue area.
Inside, the expansive property, set over two floors, is very much a family home.
Its hall leads through to a double-height dining room, a dark galleried room that appears far brighter in photos, but would be utterly transformed by the addition of some simple roof glazing.
The rest of the rooms satellite off it, with an interconnecting living room opening directly out to a concrete-paved terrace that has been painted a very dark grey.
The kitchen opens out to the same terrace as does the sunroom, and while all three interconnect, the current layout could do with some tweaking to make more of the stellar sea views.
And if you need respite from the big blue, there’s a sitting room to the front that seems like a great place to winter out any storms, for its windows frame a different vista – the spire of St Patrick’s church at the top of the road.
Four of the five bedrooms, all of which are doubles, are located to the right of the hall. Two of the bedrooms have en suite bathrooms.
Upstairs there is another living room, currently used as a therapy space that opens out to a balcony, another great space to drink in the views. There’s also a dual aspect en suite bedroom at this level.
The house extends to 283sq m /3,046sq ft and is asking €2.85 million through agents SherryFitzgerald.
It shares a driveway with a property called Island View, number 5 Beulah Court, which sold for €1.7 million last October.
The site may also be of interest to a canny developer who might, subject to planning, be able to build a small boutique apartment complex or a couple of high-spec townhouses on the plot.
