One of Dalkey’s secret addresses, St Begnet’s Villas, is located just off Hyde Road, adjacent to Cuala GAA Club. The estate takes its name from the patron saint of Dalkey and lends its name to the 10th-century granite church in the south county seaside village. The cluster of former council houses is just a stone’s throw from the centre of Dalkey so you could happily live out here without a car, as the location is served by bus and Dart services into the city.
Many of these houses have been extended, thanks to their generous rear gardens, and number 91 is no exception.
In fact, so much has changed since its owners purchased the house back in 2018 – for €585,000 according to the Property Price Register – that you would barely recognise the place.
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irstly, in terms of size, it then measured 74sq m (797sq ft) and has now more than doubled to 161sq m (1,733sq ft). “It was a shoebox back then and we put a lot into it as it was to become our forever home,” say its owner, who has moved to Miami for work.
Secondly, the Ber is B1, and that is a costly achievement and indicative of works that you really don’t see in terms of insulation, along with high-quality windows and doors.
Engaging architect Ian McAulay, principal at McAulay Rice Architects, the entire house was refurbished, reimagined and extended, now bearing little resemblance to what stood before.
At hall level, which has solid blonde-oak herringbone parquet, lies a living/diningroom with a feature Waterford Stanley three-sided gas fire with Eichholtz lighting.
A television room with a built-in 85-inch screen lies to the front of the house and has a handmade sofa that fits the room perfectly, while the leopard print sofa in the living area was inspired by one the owner saw in the home of Aerin Lauder, the style director of Estée Lauder.
Crannarc in Greystones was tasked with the kitchen, which has Arabescato marble splashbacks and countertops, a Rangemaster Elise cooker complete with a cool brass-pot filler and a wine fridge. This area also has cool lighting: “We got all the lighting from Hicken Lighting and it cost in the region of €30,000, as it was to be our forever home,” says the owner.
Crannarc was also engaged to fit out the utility, which has a similar spec to the kitchen, and they also did all the cabinetry in the study – now with a fully-fitted workspace. Bathrooms were sourced from Waterloo in Dún Laoghaire, while the trough-style marble basin in a downstairs powder room is by Lusso and tiling is by Regan Tiles in Dún Laoghaire.
From the kitchen, there is access to a rear courtyard through a set of bifolding doors, which allows the space to become one for entertaining, while an overhead awning permits dining in all sorts of weather. The whole area outside is paved, requiring no maintenance, though it would benefit from lots of potted plants for colour and interest. Having no green space here is compensated by the fact that Hyde Park is just over the wall, so families with children have ample space for running about and kicking footballs.
Herringbone flooring is continued upstairs. Here lie three bedrooms, including a generous principal suite with a floor-to-ceiling corner window that bathes the room with light. Fittings are high-end marble and brass sourced from the Victorian Salvage Company that include a rainfall shower and a custom-made sink.
The owner loves the location and will miss the sense of community: “If you could just bottle it, or buy it and take it with you, it would be great.”
But as work has taken the family abroad, number 91 St Begnet’s Villas is on the market through Sherry FitzGerald, seeking €1.075m.
