Anstice Lodge has had many incarnations since it was built circa 1895. Originally the coach house for Ashurst – the 10,000sq ft Gothic pile next door – the house takes its name from the coachman's daughter Anastasia, and was once known as Little Anstice, when it was the junior school of Holy Child in Killiney.
The current owners purchased the property in 2006, and added an extension designed by architect Peter Oakes which includes a large kitchen, living room and sunroom bringing the total area of the house to 300sq m.
“When we first came here we couldn’t figure out where the heart of the house was,” say the current owners. The reason for this was the kitchen was in a small, north-facing room darkened by the shadow of high walls outside. “But the extension really brought it all together.”
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The attention in the new design went to the south face – which overlooks the garden. The kitchen is now a bright, double- aspect room with hand-built units in a mixture of earthy tones.
Adjacent lies the family room, where two sets of French windows lead to patios in the gardens – one is filled with vegetable beds, the other is one of many al-fresco dining spaces.
In the old part of the property lies a bright drawing room with an open fire and pale painted floorboards. The old diningroom is now a rather grand bathroom – the shower base is one solid slab of stone which took three men to lift.
The terrazzo staircase remains as it was when the house was a school and leads to a mezzanine – now used as a library. Off this lies the new sunroom – with picture windows capturing many of the ornamental trees in the garden – notably an acacia and paperbark maple.
Three bedrooms lie upstairs – a fourth is downstairs, and a further attic room is accessed via a spiral staircase. A tiny fireplace sits in the corridor – a reminder that this was once an ostler’s home.
The gardens wind around the house at different levels and house an old potting shed which the owners use as a home office.
Anstice Lodge is a great property full of character, colour and a whole lot of charm. It is for sale through DNG with an asking price of €2.2 million.
