It’s a bright spring evening, the daffodils are out and the rich green lawn extends across what was once a tennis court to the cliffs, beyond which are the most incredible views. You can gaze along the beach to Bray Head on one side, and Sorrento Terrace and Dalkey Island on the other.
The sun is shining, but I’m imagining Dunsandle in a storm. The thing is, you can see the weather coming in, and it must be exciting to watch, from the warmth and shelter of the tall and wide bay windows, the clouds approaching – and then blowing out.
You couldn't get much closer to the sea than Dunsandle, which is at the bottom of Corbawn Lane, just down from Shankill Dart station, but an absolute world away in terms of peace and quiet. Further along the coast, erosion is a problem, but here the same seafront trees have been in situ for simply ages, and you'd have to lose an awful lot of lawn (the front garden is 60m/200ft long) before it became time to worry.
0 of 6
Dunsandle is a Victorian house, built back when this part of Ireland’s coast was nicknamed “the Brighton of Ireland”.
The original house was divided at some point, with Dunsandle getting the larger share. Inside there are four/five bedrooms, beautiful reception rooms with bay windows, a very large kitchen, an arched library area, a utility room/boot room and a bright sun lounge looking over the enclosed mature back garden, which has lots of good planting and two sheds.
The whole house was double glazed, replumbed and rewired in recent years, so what’s not to love? First off, it’s an estate sale (the house belonged to the late Frank Barrett), and so it’s empty and you have to imagine your own things bringing it to life. Upstairs only one of the bedrooms is en suite which seems to matter hugely to people these days, while downstairs the kitchen is perfectly functional, but rather old fashioned.
Finally, and this depends on your own views about soaking up incredibly gorgeous views through uPVC windows: they’re hugely practical, but with a house this romantic it’s difficult not to wish for something more in keeping.
These are small quibbles, and the price of €1.2million by private treaty through Sherry FitzGerald, reflects the work that could be done here. The rooms are large, the proportions are gorgeous, and Dunsandle could hardly have a better position. I think if you lived here you'd keep pinching yourself to believe your incredible good fortune.
