Sea views in Sandycove for €995,000

It is an unusual period house proposition, one that offers captivating sea views and scampi and chips served on the side.

Number 1 Martello Terrace is an end-of-terrace property, one of six, from which you can see Howth, Scotsman's Bay, Sandycove Point, the Joyce Tower and, disappearing into the cloudscape, Michael Scott's maritime-inspired art deco house.

In the foreground, Rachel Joynt's gorgeous Mothership sculpture, a large metal sea urchin-inspired design, compels you to touch it.

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As well as landmarks aplenty to admire from its front rooms, the two-storey-over-garden level Victorian residence, which measures 173sq m (1,860sq ft) has living accommodation on the hall and first floors, while a restaurant, the Fish Shack Café (previously the Martello), trades from its garden level.

Run by Padraic Hanley, it is one of a chain of seafood specialty eateries that includes Ouzo's in Blackrock and Dalkey and the Fish Shack, which returns to Dún Laoghaire's East Pier next month.

Rental income from the restaurant, measuring 105sq m (1,130 sq ft) and including the restaurant floor, kitchen and storage rooms, generates €35,000 per annum, rising to €40,000 per annum in 2018.

Hanley has a 15-year lease in place from last March, offering buyers a potential revenue or pension stream.

Weather-permitting, the restaurant has some tables out front.

The home is separate from the restaurant and is accessed via granite steps to the front.

A formal dining room to the front draws you to its dual aspect shuttered windows where you can drink in the sea views.

To its rear is the kitchen, a room that was renovated four or five years ago and includes an open fire that is crying out for a pot-bellied stove to add a warming glow.

French doors

French doors that are smaller than average, about five feet high, open on to an asphalted roof that serves as a deck, thanks to its southwesterly aspect.

From the deck, you can see that the plot the house is on is larger than it first appears.

Two Barna-style sheds, industrial extractor fan ducting with carbon filters to eliminate smells and a cold room belonging to the restaurant, are occluded behind a high wall.

Viewers should see the house when the kitchen is in service as the extractor wasn’t on when this writer visited, which makes it difficult to gauge what sort of smells emanate from it.

There is room to eat in the kitchen, but with views to the front, open-plan fans could look at creating a hyper-contemporary floor-to-ceiling opening between the two rooms to bring more light to the rear, while preserving the magic of the period room to the front.

The family bathroom is on the hall return. Upstairs, the drawing room is to the front and is what will ultimately reel in even the most jaundiced of house-hunter.

The room has dual-aspect sea views, a vaulted high ceiling and a stone fireplace in which burns a solid-fuel stove.

A large TV blocks part of the vista from one window but don’t let that put you off.

This is a house where this writer can envisage the next owner cheekily inviting friends to dinner, then taking them downstairs to eat and back up to the drawing room for after-dinner drinks and music. It is gorgeous.

New windows were installed around the same time as the kitchen and mask the noise of the traffic, which can be heavy along the coast road.

Set on the corner of Islington Avenue, Glasthule village and Dart station are at the end of the road.

There is disc parking across the street. The property is priced at €995,000 through agents Lisney.