Supersized Sutton cottage on a seaside cycle circuit for €750,000

Estate agent Paul Lappin was happily ensconced in hipster Stoneybatter in the 1990s when he and his wife spotted number 15 Station Road cottages for sale while on a drive to Howth where his wife grew up. This was home ground for the pair of them for he was from the Howth Road, literally around the corner.

“We just fell in love with the magnificent views and saw the potential to extend in the future,” he recalls.

This is a gem of a stretch of north city coastline that extends from Sutton Cross Roads to Baldoyle village and beyond now, thanks to the cycle path that leads from the village to Portmarnock and will eventually lead all the way north to Balbriggan. The views out front frame Lambay Island, and are book-ended by two golf clubs: Cush Point, home to Sutton Golf Club on Burrow Road to the right and the red-tiled roof of Portmarnock to the left.

The cottage was a tiny granite build with redbrick detailing, only about 37sq m/400sq ft until the couple supersized the property in 2005, more than quadrupling its size, to accommodate their three sons.

Roof light

The three to four-bedroom house is now 170sq m/1,830sq ft in size and has a sitting room with stellar sea views to the front, a double bedroom with roof light and a large single bedroom at the end of the hall.

The oak flooring leads through to the property’s big surprise, a second sitting cum dining room with double doors out to a granite patio and another door leading through to the eat-in kitchen which also has direct access to the patio.

The surprise is the 150ft south-facing garden to the rear that is split into two distinct areas, the far area set up with a bench press and a trampoline. Laid out in lawn, it is extremely private, has side access and even an outdoor toilet, an old-fashioned idea that could come in handy in a Covid era, should you not wish to have people in the house.

Black granite

The rooms are all picked out in soft chalky colours, a collection of Farrow & Ball paintscapes put together by Elaine Verdon of Leon and Cici. These include Setting Plaster, the kind of sunburnt pink you get when you spend time on the water without sunscreen, as well as a gorgeous range of marine blues, one in the sitting room, another on the kitchen units which have polished black granite worktops, and yet more shades on the downstairs bedrooms.

Upstairs there are two dormer bedrooms. The master, painted in Blue Gray, overlooks the garden and has a shower and windowed ensuite bathroom.

At high tide, the whole family likes to stand-up paddle board using inflatable devices. They also kayak and swim at either Balscadden Bay or Sutton Dingy Club. Their sons are all members of nearby Suttonians Rugby Club.

The house is about a three-minute walk to the Dart station where the journey time to Connolly station is about 25 minutes. Dublin Airport is a 50-minute journey on the 102 bus.

The property is asking €750,000 through Property Team Lappin Estates.