D-day veteran’s Killiney home for €645,000

Kilda Lodge, the home of the late Michael d’Alton, an Irish veteran of the D-Day landings, is an early 19th century house with an asking price of €645,000. The house, which was d’Alton’s home for 50 years and probably the smallest on exclusive St George’s Avenue in Killiney, is in need of total renovation, but could potentially be revamped with an investment of around €150,000 to €200,000, according to builder Kevin Moran.

The detached redbrick of 105sq m (1,130sq ft)is situated not far up St George's Avenue from the corner with Killiney Hill Road, and is for sale through Sherry FitzGerald.

It is not a listed building, but new owners will presumably keep the attractive exterior of Kilda Lodge while revamping it completely inside.

Currently accommodation includes what was a living/diningroom, kitchen, study and a double bedroom upstairs, with some views of the sea; downstairs are two double bedrooms in what were originally stables and a utility room.

New owners are likely to want to extend Kilda Lodge at the rear, without losing too much of the relatively small lawned rear garden. Moran of Moran Builders in Goatstown, Dublin, says “a small two-storey extension with a footprint of about 20sq m (40sq m in total) would cost in the region of €70,000-€80,000” taking into account demolitions and alterations needed to enable the build.

The main structure of the building looks sound, he adds, with brick work and stone work in good condition and a few roofing issues. Reroofing the house could cost in the region of €9,000.

Rewiring

Other costs would include rewiring, approximately €9,000; new plumbing and heating €10,000; insulation and wall finishes €12,000; floor finishes €3,000, new windows €7,000; painting and decorating €7,000; and maybe €15,000 for kitchen and sanitary ware.

Michael d’Alton died in 2016 aged 95, just over a year after being made a Chevalier de la Legion d’honneur by the French government for his part in the D-Day landings. He grew up in Dalkey, and joined Britain’s royal navy in 1939. After the war he became a quantity surveyor, and was a life member of the Royal Irish Yacht Club.

Hendre, a modernist 640sq m (6,900sq ft) six-bedroom house on just over an acre near the top of St George’s Avenue has an AMV of €3.9 million prior to being auctioned this Thursday .