Collins hideout a secret gem

CABINTEELY €1.7M:You get a lot of house for your money with Kilbogget House, and a nice bit of history too

KILBOGGET House in Cabinteely, Dublin 18, is a Georgian neoclassical villa that has been hedged in all sides by suburban sprawl. While bereft of its original 500 acres, it has acres of style, is light-filled and has a colourful history.

The fully restored, nine-bedroom house is for sale through Knight Frank at €1.7 million.

During the treaty negotiations after the War of Independence, the house is rumoured to have accommodated Michael Collins in what was then a secret room. The room in question is now the master bedroom’s en suite bathroom. It wasn’t a bathroom back then, but it’s difficult to picture the “big fella” in a room that is now home to a slipper-shaped, claw-foot bath.

The Collins connection is a story that you can dine out on for years. It’s also a great party ice-breaker. And this house was designed with entertainment in mind. Built in 1769, the property started life as a Georgian farmhouse, but was extended in the 1800s by architect John Skipton Mulvaney, who studied under Gandon. Mulvaney designed Broadstone and the Royal Irish and Royal St George yacht clubs in Dún Laoghaire.

A Doric portico is the first of the many Mulvaney flourishes in evidence. Double doors with original stained glass panels open into the square grand hall where two more Doric pillars echo their exterior brothers.

The proportions throughout the grand floor are wonderful. The drawing room is home to perfect cornice plasterwork that has never been painted. A marble fireplace complements the William Morris-style wallpaper. A bay window has French doors leading outside. On the other side of the hall is the diningroom, another perfectly formed room. These all interconnect and have 13ft-high ceilings.

There’s a serious amount of living space, with 650sq m (7,000sq ft) to ramble around. A corridor runs the length of the floor, accessed from the hall or diningroom. The master bedroom and the secret room that was Collins’s hideout are to its left.

The heritage style of the Architectural Salvage kitchen is understated and works well with the house. A red Aga adds a pop of colour.

The property was owned by the Urseline nuns from the 1960s until the mid-1990s, which saved it from the ravages of the then contemporary interiors. At this time, its furniture was sold and was purchased by the Board of Works to furnish Dublin Castle. The then owner, a Mr Broderick, is said to have seen President Kennedy on TV sitting on one of his boudoir chairs during his visit to Ireland.

There are two double bedrooms on both returns. At garden level, there is a self-contained wing with five bedrooms, a sittingroom, a vaulted ceiling cellar diningroom and five bedrooms. This is a house that could accommodate two co-habitating families, each using one of the floors.

The house is boxed in on all sides by an early 1990s housing estate but retains a small patch of grass surround. There is a south-facing patio and a 400-year-old yew tree that gives you some sense of its heritage.

Its location is ideal for anyone looking for a lofty place to live but needing to remain near the city.

Kilbogget House, Cabinteely, Dublin 18 

Spacious, 650sq m, nine-bedroom Georgian neoclassical villa featuring an Architectural Salvage kitchen. Agent: Knight Frank