Glamour of a clifftop garden

HOWTH:A LARGE bungalow on about three quarters of an acre of clifftop garden in Howth has come on the market through Savills asking €1.8 million.

Couleen, on Ceannchor Road, was the home of the late Capt RN Whyte, one of the longest serving pilots in Aer Lingus, who was in the Royal Air Force and won medals for bravery in rescuing women from Japanese war camps.

Couleen is set right at the end of Ceannchor Road, off Carrickbrack Road. It’s a very private property with a 150m driveway leading down from the road, from which the property cannot be seen.

According to selling agent David McGuinness of Savills the 1920s house needs modernisation and would also “lend itself to redevelopment” – shorthand for being demolished and rebuilt in 21st-century style.

The property has fine sheltered gardens and direct access to the Howth cliff path that circulates the entire of Howth Head. There is also access to a secluded beach.

It’s an attractive bungalow with around 186sq m (2,002sq ft) of living space, much of it given over to a tremendously large livingroom with picture windows making the most of the view of the grounds and the sea.

Essentially it’s a two bedroom house at present but a reading room and a large attic room could also be converted into bedrooms.

The livingroom, with its exposed rafters and stone fireplace, is a striking room with a substantial pillar support which is an effective room divider. The reading room or study leads into conservatory that runs across much of the back of the house. There is also a diningroom which has the same distinctive rafters as the livingroom. A rear hallway leads to the kitchen, a modestly sized room with an Esse range cooker. Both the bedrooms are accessed from this hallway. The main bedroom is a big, light-filled room with a wide picture window overlooking Dublin Bay. Next to it is a staircase leading to the attic level with its sittingroom-cum-study. The grounds include well kept lawns and a secret garden.