The Steward’s House is at the back of the popular St Helen’s Wood development in Booterstown. The original house it was attached to, St Helen’s, now the Radisson Blu five-star hotel, bore the motto “mors potior macula,” meaning “death rather than infamy”.
It was the office for the development as St Helen’s Wood was being built by Seán Dunne’s Berland Homes in the early 1990s, and the current owner bought the property in 2013 for €565,000, according to the Property Price Register. A detached, two-storey historical property, the owner has brought it right up to date and managed to achieve a B3 Ber rating, no mean feat for a house built in the 1870s.
It is a pretty, detached house, clad in granite and a charming red tile. Adjoining it are the converted stables, clustered around an open green area studded with trees, providing an ideal space for children to play. The owner, selling the property through Janet Carroll for €1.5 million, says he will miss the community and his “excellent neighbours”.
The entrance is to the side of the property, through an iron gate and portico. The front door has period stained-glass windows. A tiled hall opens up with a long kitchen/diner to the left and two reception rooms to the right. A guest cloakroom at the back of the hall is adorned with beautiful blue wallpaper.
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The kitchen, painted a cool blue, has cream timber units, black granite worktops, grey Spanish slate floor tiles and access through a utility at its rear to a passage that wraps around two sides of the house, with two timber storage sheds, large enough to hold some bikes. Double doors at the front of the dual-aspect kitchen open to the garden, which is beautifully landscaped with a colourful Japanese acer coming into its best on a crisp October day. Southwest-facing, the garden is a natural suntrap with high stone walls and is completely private.
The main livingroom has an engineered oak floor, a wood-burning stove set into the fireplace and attractive Rationel triple-glazed windows, which as well as contributing to the high Ber rating, keep the house whisper-quiet. Another family room lies beside it with good built-in shelving and the owner uses this room to work from home.
Painted stairs lead to a second floor with four good-sized double bedrooms, three of which have dark-stained floors while one has a light wash. All bedrooms have substantial wardrobes and pretty sloping eaves, with high-set windows that have shutters attached to block out light. The principal bedroom has a modern en suite and there is a family bathroom with a rainfall shower on this floor as well. The area of the house is 170 sq m (1829 sq ft.)
The house, though full of heritage features, is not listed, so should not present obstacles for new owners who may wish to renovate, but that is unlikely as the house is in turnkey condition. The location is superb, with a path just behind the house leading to the grounds of the Radisson Blu, a side entrance to Coláiste Eoin boys’ Gaelcholáiste is two minutes along this path, and it leads on to the N11 for buses into the city. University College Dublin is less than a 30-minute walk away.
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The walk to Booterstown Dart station can be done in under 15 minutes from the property and there is parking to the front of the house. Residents pay a management fee of €630 a year to cover grounds maintenance, giving access to lovely green spaces that hosted “gin by the bin” evenings during the Covid-19 pandemic as the community gathered outside – socially distanced, of course.
