Dalkey: €2.2m Colliers Jackson Stops expects to fetch over €2.2 million for Villa Vico, a tall Victorian house at the junction of Sorrento Road and Vico Road, Dalkey, Co Dublin, that goes to auction on June 23rd.
The four-bedroom semi-detached house extends to 334 sq m (3,600 sq ft) and has off-street parking and a patio garden to the rear.
This location means comparison to nearby Sorrento Terrace is inevitable: it was built at the same time during the mid 19th century and has some similar qualities, including beautiful views from generously proportioned rooms, a Riviera atmosphere - when the sun shines - and the glamour that comes with living across the road from Van Morrison and The Edge of U2. A path across the road provides a romantic walkway down to the sea. The current owner once lived on Sorrento Terrace but claims she genuinely prefers this location because it offers greater privacy, security, off street parking and is a little easier to maintain. The owner has long been associated with Dublin's antiques trade. Her late husband was an architect and his sensibility marks the house: the wood and rich plasterwork is in impeccable condition.
One of the most striking features of the house is that it is not a dark damp Victorian pile. Light pours in from three sides and where the view is not of the sea, it is of an expanse of greenery.
The house has a reasonably sized front garden with a pond and plenty of parking. Inside to the right of the wide hall are two interconnecting rooms - one a family room and the other a kitchen, with traditional painted units and a range adding to the warm atmosphere.
This room opens to a yard at the back that is small but has charm thanks to a stone cliff wall at the back of the site and a small water feature. Also at this level are a small bedroom, utility room and the garage that is ripe for conversion into a possible fifth bedroom. Off the staircase there is a very pleasant study on the first return.
The bright spacious drawing and diningrooms are on the first floor and have views towards the trees of Sorrento Park, the rooftops of Sorrento Terrace, the curve of Killiney Bay and out to the sea beyond.
A glass door in the drawingroom opens to a long terrace that runs the length of the house and wraps around the back.
On the second floor there are three bedrooms and a shower room. The main bedroom that has views on two sides to the sea.