Standing at the kitchen sink of Barnacullia, a four-bedroom house tucked away off a country lane in Wicklow, you can see straight up to the little Sugar Loaf. Walk around to the front of the house and you get panoramic views of countryside, of the sea beyond Greystones and the big Sugar Loaf. All is rural peace and quiet – yet the house is a short drive from the N11 and, even using back roads, about 10 to 15 minutes’ drive from Bray.
Built in 1911 as a summer residence for the dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin, the house was completely remodelled by its current owners when they bought it 14 years ago. The result is an elegant, well-designed, compact, comfortable modern home in walk-in condition. Everything – large picture windows and patios, decking and verandas – has been arranged to take advantage of the rolling views.
Barnacullia House, for sale for €1.2 million through Sherry FitzGerald, is 204sq m (2,200sq ft) and sits on just over an acre of gardens. There is a large Shomera studio at the bottom of the garden.
Understated
The understated elegance of the house is evident as soon as you open the front door. There are gleaming solid walnut floors throughout the ground floor. The entrance hall has been turned into a comfortable sitting area with a wood-burning stove, and opens into a livingroom with bay windows. A short hall leading to the diningroom is a book-lined corridor and French doors open off the diningroom onto a red-tiled porch. All these rooms look over fields towards sea and mountains.
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The kitchen has a range, polished granite worktops and a walk-in larder. There’s a small office off the diningroom/kitchen area, and a good-sized utility room at the other side. Just beyond it is the smart guest bathroom. A short hall opens onto a patio at the back of the house, and leads back into the front hall.
There are four luxurious carpeted bedrooms upstairs, a smart family bathroom and a handsome en suite off the main bedroom. All the bathrooms have underfloor heating.
Outside, as well as the patio at the back, there’s a separate deck at the side of the house with recessed uplighters and plenty of space for dining al fresco. Mesh-covered wooden steps lead from a sheltered kitchen garden, past an arched willow tunnel down through a wooded area to a large lawn. The Shomera has an outside deck.
The house has centrally-controlled surround-sound, broadband, a detached double garage, oil fired central heating, well water and a septic tank.
Barnacullia, coming from Dublin, is located shortly after Avoca Handweavers at Kilmacanogue. The house is close to the Glen of the Downs Golf Club.
