A house not far from the N11 at Kilmacanogue has a cinematic setting, with views of the Big and Little Sugar Loaf from its
rear. The detached 1970s bungalow, dramatically extended by its owners, has rural peace and quiet – yet it's a short drive to Bray, Greystones and Dún Laoghaire. Now Grantham Place, Rocky Valley Drive, Kilmacanogue, Co Wicklow, a detached five-bedroom house on 1.2 acres, is for sale by private treaty for €875,000 through Savills.
Owners Henry and Hilary King built the huge extension 14 years ago and the house is now about 267 sq m (2,874sq ft) in size. This created a very large, open-plan livingroom/diningroom with a steeply pitched timber ceiling and huge windows taking best advantage of the views. There’s a bar in one corner of the room and a Stovax wall-mounted wood-burning stove. Most of the floors are tiled and there is underfloor oil-fired central heating throughout .
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Solar panels also heat the water in the bright summer months. Extending also created a large main bedroom, again with a high, pitched timber ceiling: it has a walk-in dressingroom, a good-sized en suite – and views of the Sugar Loaf.
The family resisted the noughties impulse to paint and tile everything in shades of beige: the kitchen, for example, is painted tangerine and blue. It’s a large room with plenty of space for a big American fridge and has excellent views from the kitchen sink. One bathroom is painted a vivid shade of green, complemented by smart large green-and-white tiles and another bathroom, painted blue, is similarly tiled.
The four bedrooms in the original part of the bungalow are wooden-floored: one large double looks over the valley through a large picture window.
There are double doors off the diningroom and livingroom opening onto a balcony: this leads around from the back of the house to a large deck at the side, past a patio area with stone seating. The huge sloping garden is designed to keep owners fit: at the back of the house it falls steeply downhill past lawn to a field where new owners could keep horses, suggests Hilary King. At the opposite side of the house, a smooth green lawn slopes upwards – there’s a bench here where you can sit and really take in the panoramic view of hill and valley.
In addition there are two garages outside and ample room for parking.
