A picture perfect Orpen bungalow

Tullycot is a house built in the 1920s to a design by architect Richard Orpen, brother of famous Irish portrait painter William Orpen. Richard was appointed architect to Christ Church Cathedral in 1910 as well as St Patrick's Cathedral, St Canice's Cathedral, Kilkenny, Trinity College and St Columba's College, Rathfarnham.

Considered a remarkable draftsman, Orpen was commissioned to build several houses on Brennanstown Road, by Col Ambrose Boxwell who lived nearby at a house called Camolin. Tullycot is one of two adjacent houses by him.

According to the Dictionary of Irish Architects the writer who interviewed Orpen for the Irish Builder in 1904 credits him with being "the originator of the bungalow in Ireland", responsible for "quite a colony of pretty red-tiled gabled houses in the fashionable residential district of Foxrock". Orpen moved into a house of his own design in the area in 1907.

ExpandAutoplay

Image 1 of 7

While the layout is now very different to how it was originally, Tullycot remains postcard pretty. The property, like its architect is said to have been, is blessed with a sunny disposition.

The current owners have lived in the house since 1977 and reconfigured its layout to suit their needs, breaking open two bedrooms on the ground floor to make a fine family room and extending it across its two floors.

All of the reception rooms now interconnect. From the hall you can access the formal sitting room, a lovely old-fashioned space with an open fire, an Adam-style mantle and a trio of windows overlooking a lovely timber decked area to the front of the house.

A slightly faded floral suite of furniture lends this room a country hotel feel. It’s a room used for family gatherings and special occasions but also a great place to escape to to read the weekend papers in peace.

Kitchen

Double doors lead from it to the formal diningroom, a dual aspect space with sliding doors leading outside. The kitchen has vanilla painted country-style units with polished black granite worktops. It’s not huge and has a small square island at its centre. The back door opens out to a patio area.

Double doors lead from the kitchen into a fine familyroom, brightly lit on three sides by the morning sun. French doors open on to the deck where the family dines on the days that you can eat al fresco.

The house has four bedrooms, two are dormer style with two other good doubles to the rear overlooking the garden.

The master is a gorgeously sunny, dual-aspect room, with an en suite bathroom. The family bathroom is a shower room.

The garden is sizeable and is set mostly in lawn. Designed by Philip Ryan it includes mature flowerbeds and hedging with tall trees surrounding the property making it feel really private. There is another patio area at the end of the garden that gets the sun in high summer.

To the side there is a detached garage that could, subject to planning permission be turned into a home office, gym, artist’s studio or playroom.

The house, which measures 215sq m (2314sq ft), is asking €1.25 million through agents Lisney.