Garden heaven and sea views in Killiney

€1.7 million is being sought for Kildoon in Killiney, Co Dublin, a spacious Orpen-style property on an elevated site which was built in 1896

AFTER 30 years living in Kildoon on Marino Avenue East, off Military Road in Killiney, Co Dublin, the elderly owners are downsizing, or “rightsizing” as they prefer to call it, to a much smaller, more manageable property not too far away.

And it must be with some sadness they leave this big Orpen-style house, which is on an elevated site overlooking three quarters of an acre of magical gardens.

Lisney is asking €1.7 million for the 297 sq m (3,200 sq ft) five-bed house which was built in 1896 and has glimpses of sea views through the trees.

The gardens are worth a special mention because they’ve been so well tended.

The partially-sloped main lawn is fringed by shrubs, hedges and tall specimen trees and has a rotating summer house and a patio.

Ablaze with colour there are New Zealand tea trees, evergreen magnolia trees, strawberry trees and wisteria wraps around part of the house. There’s also a small orchard fringed with bluebells and shaded walkways to the side and rear of the main lawn.

The house with its pitched French red tile roof is an imposing sight and is similar in style to some of the neighbouring properties.

The entrance porch leads to a hall with leaded windows that’s wide enough to be regarded as a room in itself.

The dining room off it still has the original double doors and has a bay window with nice views of the gardens.

The drawing room is dual aspect with two big bay windows and an elegant pale yellow decor.

The kitchen, dated but serviceable, has plenty of fitted units, and some serious appliances including a double Neff oven and an American-style fridge.

There’s also a semi-circular window under which there is built-in seating.

A suite of rooms on the ground floor with its own entrance, is being described as an apartment. These rooms need updating and include a kitchen a bedroom, a sitting room and a bathroom.

Upstairs on the first floor, there are four rooms, three of which are used as bedrooms, and two sizeable bathrooms. A new owner might want to update these.

One of the former bedrooms is used as a TV room and has a door out to a lovely old wooden balcony with views from Sorrento Terrace in Dalkey on one side to Bray Head on the other.

At attic level, there’s a good- sized room which is used as a study, but could be another bedroom. There’s also attic storage, but to get to it you need to negotiate a little ladder and crawl along a low-roofed area.

Outside, there’s a double garage with plenty of storage space.