CO LOUTH/€825,000:A design-conscious couple have created a smart and airy modern home in a village by the sea
STYLE MAVENS who love to be beside the sea should check out the home of design-heads Ultan and Deborah Herr near Dundalk, Co Louth. The self-build detached house channels the couple's love of transparency and clean lines.
Ultan is a civil engineer whose work includes Guinness's Storehouse and its Waterford brewery - both odes to glass. His wife Deborah ran a fashion boutique in Dundalk for 15 years.
Number 7 Rockville is a split-level, four-bedroom property architect-designed by Group Design Architects, with significant input from its owners.
The 10-year-old property in a small cul-de-sac in the seaside village of Blackrock, outside Dundalk, was offered for sale last spring for €950,000. It has now been reduced to €825,000 through agents RVG Auctioneers.
The couple have used materials like glass with aplomb. The interior of the house is light-filled and sleek, with high-spec finishes: it has Bob Bushell lighting and grade one beech floors throughout.
Ultan and Deborah even went to Finland to look at heating systems: they opted for a passive system that uses air heated by the light-well at the top of the house which is then dispersed through the house via a duct system.
The house design is pragmatic enough to accommodate the needs of their three-child family. Accommodation is set out over three floors, accessed by an open tread staircase. A baby grand piano greets you on arrival and forms part of a large reception room bisected by a wood-burning stove set into a chimney in the centre of the space. Vaulted ceilings up to 17ft high, Velux-style windows and glass blocks mean this space is bright and airy.
A pair of sliding glass doors at the far end opens the room up to the outside. This decked back area has an outdoor kitchen with granite-topped workspaces, a sink, fridge and gas barbecue which the family use daily from May through to September. It is surrounded by low walls which offer additional seating. There's even a hot tub for relaxing in at the end of a hard day.
The indoor kitchen is on an upper level and has Corian worktops and cherry units. Two double bedrooms with en suite bathrooms are also on this level. The main bedroom includes very sleek floating custom cabinets as well as fitted Molteni wardrobes.
Down on the lower floor there are two more double bedrooms and a playroom for the children which could also be a fifth bedroom. A large utility room has ample room for a washer and dryer as well as space for a fridge/freezer, wine cooler and a compacter that will help keep your bin charges to a minimum.
There is a large decked area to the front of the house, accessed by an electronic gate, and off-street parking for two or more cars.
7 Rockville, Blackrock, Co Louth
Four-bedroom house in cul-de-sac in village near Dundalk has high-spec fitout, and decked area with an outdoor kitchen
Agent:RVG Auctioneers
