Dublin suburbs Dalkey and Killiney were dubbed Bel Eire over a decade ago for their ability to attract star residents, short and long-term. A few years ago, it was Matt Damon and later this month, Tom Hanks will be dropping in to speak at the Dalkey Literary Festival. A house for sale close to the middle of the village has been rented short-term in the past few years by Jodie Comer and Sharon Horgan but, now, it’s off the rental market and for sale for €1.9 million, through Vincent Finnegan estate agents.
Coolbawn is a relatively modest-sized 194sq m (2,088sq ft) three/four bed on Railway Road, the road that runs from Dalkey’s main street up to the Dart station. It was sold in 2011 for €480,000, gutted and completely revamped by local architects Extend.ie and building company BuildPol, and sold again in 2015 for €1.25 million. It has a B3 Ber rating.
The €1.9 million sum sounds like a big ask for a terraced property but prices in south Co Dublin have been rising and Dalkey village is considered a prime location. Coolbawn is a modern open-plan home redesigned along clear, simple lines with the addition of a good-sized outdoor patio that has a built-in barbecue and retractable roof cover. It also has a studio apartment with a Murphy bed at the end of a flourishing garden, the area of which is included in the overall 194sq m of the house.
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The mid-terrace house is long rather than wide, with bedrooms upstairs and living quarters at ground level. A few steps lead down to what’s effectively the front door – the main front door is seldom used. It opens into a long livingroom, floored with oak; it has a coal-effect gas fireplace with a white-stone mantelpiece and underfloor heating. On the left is a fully-tiled downstairs toilet and a cleverly-designed utility area behind sliding doors.
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Most striking is a glass-walled inner courtyard, filled with greenery, halfway down the long open-plan downstairs level; it part divides the livingroom from the kitchen/diningroom. This has glossy white units, timber-topped island and countertops and a Quooker tap. A dining table opposite the kitchen space has lightwells over it and a dining table seating 10 or more people.
Floor-to-ceiling glazed concertina doors open into an outdoor room floored with a timber deck and retractable roof. It has a built-in barbecue with a kitchen counter on one side and a long dining table on the other with space heaters fitted over it.
Timber stairs with a glass banister lead from the livingroom to the first floor where there are three bedrooms – one is en suite – and a family bathroom off an oak-floored hall. The finish is smart, with solid-timber doors, fully-tiled bathrooms and fitted Sliderobes wardrobes in two of the bedrooms.
Outside, patio doors lead from the outdoor kitchen up a few steps into a long richly-planted landscaped back garden where a path leads past rose bushes to a small patio at the end beside the studio apartment. The livingroom of this apartment has a pull-down Murphy bed, kitchenette and fully-tiled shower.
Coolbawn’s location couldn’t be much more convenient. A door at the end of the garden opens into a laneway where another door opens on to the road facing the back entrance into Dalkey’s Supervalu. Coolbawn is opposite Photogenic photograph studio, a short walk to the Dalkey Dart station in one direction and to the corner with Sorrento Road (and Finnegan’s pub) in the other. There is off-street parking in the paved front garden behind an electronic gate.
