A large detached Victorian house on a hidden road in Dalkey has a gleaming white exterior and a freshly painted, beautifully restored interior. Epworth, a 300sq m (3,229sq ft) five-bed, has large sash windows, parquet floors, vividly painted rooms – and excellent sea views from the back of the house across Dublin Bay to Howth. In walk-in condition, it's for sale through Sherry FitzGerald for €3.2million.
Rockfort Avenue is an L-shaped road just outside the village of Dalkey, connecting Coliemore Road to Sorrento Road. Epworth is next door to Cliff House, the former home of WB Yeats's son Michael Yeats on the corner of Coliemore and Rockfort, which sold last August for about €2.25 million; it's also across the road from Aelagh, a period house owned by Chris de Burgh.
The owners of Epworth, who bought it in 1997, remodelled the house from the ground up, according to agent Steven Manek. Rewiring and re-plumbing they restored or replaced period features, including ornate Victorian-style radiators. The drawingroom/diningroom on the left of the hall, walls painted a deep red, runs from the front to the back of the house, linked by an unusual wide, white arch. There’s a wood-burning stove in a large white marble fireplace and the parquet-floored rooms are both dual-aspect, with tall sash windows with shutters.
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Polished granite
The room on the right has been extended at the side to create a large airy modern kitchen/breakfast/family room. A small lounge area looks on to the front garden with the kitchen/breakfast room taking up the rest of the space. It’s bright, with cream units and polished granite countertops and designed to allow sea views from the kitchen sink. The breakfastroom opens through French windows on to a sandstone patio at the side of the house, revealing more sea views.
There’s more of these from a livingroom down a few steps from the end of the hall: this spans the width of the house and opens on to the patio which wraps around the back of the house. More steps lead down to the garden level, where there’s a large room currently used as a music room/games room and a utility room and toilet. New owners might revamp this space as an en suite guest bedroom or au pair’s quarters.
The hall, stairs and upstairs landing have original panelled walls, painted white to contrast with teal blue walls above it.
Upstairs, the main bedroom is on the first return and has views over the sea and the playing fields of nearby secondary school Loreto Abbey from a large bay window. It has a smart fully tiled en-suite shower room and a separate walk-in dressingroom. The four large high-ceilinged bedrooms on the top floor are all doubles, and one is en-suite.
The lawn stretches across the back of the house, and is sheltered by a tall hedge. There is plenty of parking in the large, gravelled front garden, hidden behind wooden electronic gates.
It’s thought that the house may once have been the home of a Methodist minister: Epworth Hall, a small hall – now a private home – once owned by the Methodist church is a few doors down on the other side of Rockfort Avenue.
