Annacrivey carries its Art Deco heritage lightly. Notwithstanding design kudos galore, rooms filled with light and gardens that are nothing less than a botanical oasis, there is nothing of the show-off about Annacrivey.
This is a house that has been quietly loved, lived in and appreciated for all of its 67 years by the family of its designer/architect Anthony Johnson. The time has come to sell, the family now agrees, to allow "a new family to move in and enjoy".
Annacrivey needs work and modernising, a reality reflected in agent DNG’s €695,000 asking price for what is a good-sized house (192sq m/2,066sq ft) on a good-sized site (a third of an acre) in a sought after location.
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Family memories of life in Annacrivey are lively. “It was a very happy home,” members agree, “built to last by our father [Anthony Johnson] using the latest building techniques and materials of the day and designed to be bright and airy.
"It was completed in 1950, a replica of the next door house, Aghanloo, which he'd already built for our grandparents. Kill Lane really was a country lane in those days, with a large farm behind the house."
Original metal windows
There is a Preservation Order on the facades of both houses. Aghanloo is, however, much extended to the side and rear (in a design recreating the original brickwork) so the precedent is set for extending Annacrivey, subject to planning permission.
Detached, with a flat roof and original metal windows, Annacrivey has four bedrooms, three reception rooms, kitchen, utility, storage room, guest toilet and family bathroom. The most singular aspect of its Art Deco heritage is seen in columns of vertical glass brick windows to the front. Inside, these allow floods of light into the hall, landing and stairs.
The entrance hall, guest toilet and kitchen have terrazzo tile flooring, walls have typical Art Deco curves, fireplaces are tiled, ground-floor ceilings are 10ft high and doors, floorboards, windows – even the flush cistern in the guest toilet – are all original.
Original features
A sitting/sun room running across the rear was intended to make the most of the garden and the front-facing kitchen has a cache of original features. Both need considerable modernising but, as with the rest of the house, have solid workmanship and design features setting the pace for a revamp.
Johnson planted trees to give shade in what were, and are, large front and rear gardens. He planted hedging for the same reason. Both are alive and flourishing, along with a marvellous vegetable garden growing potatoes, runner beans and rhubarb. Apple, plum and pear trees, lavender, hydrangea and clematis are also a thriving feature of the 108ft-long rear garden.
There is off-street parking to the front, a side passage and a garage.
