With coastal properties outperforming most other house sales in the Dublin area, a four-bedroom Victorian house with panoramic views over Dalkey Sound should attract a fair number of weekend viewers.
Corballis Property Consultants is quoting a private treaty price in the region of £900,000 (€1.14m) for Lucca, a two-storey over-garden house on Coliemore Road dating from the turn of the century.
Blue shutters distinguish the house from its neighbours on the road, which extends from Coliemore Harbour to Sorrento Point. It's a 2,000 sq ft end of terrace property, needing some work but with obvious potential to become a very special place to live. Houses on the seaward side of Coliemore Road are slow to come to the market. Drumalla, a smaller period house on the opposite side and needing a complete overhaul achieved £680,000 (€863,422) at a Lisney auction in early March.
With Lucca, sea views and a back garden running down to the rocky foreshore will be the main draw for prospective buyers. The owners, now re-locating to Germany, kept a dinghy at the waters' edge for family picnics on Dalkey Island. The kitchen, main sittingroom and largest bedroom look out over the bay and a balcony off the kitchen has room for a table and chairs.
A new owner will definitely install a new bathroom, redecorate and may decide to add viewing decks and balconies on the upper floors as many neighbours have done. The front door opens into an L-shaped hallway with a fine plaster centre-piece and a stained-glass arched inner door. A small study off this has good views of the coast.
The formal sittingroom, also with cornicing and an ornate painted wood fireplace, has a bay window with views across to Dalkey Sound and Howth. Another family livingroom to the front of the house has a large picture window.
At garden level, a big country-style kitchen with terracotta sponge-painted walls has room for informal dining. A back door opens on to a tiled terrace overlooking the back garden and the shore. Good-looking timber kitchen units were installed less than two years ago and the built-in cooking equipment, dishwasher and fridge are included in the sale. A door leads out from here to a railed balcony and the back garden. Also on this floor is a utility room, guest lavatory and a playroom/guest bedroom.
Upstairs, three of the four bedrooms are doubles and the main bedroom has a wide picture window looking out on the Sound. The smallest room would make an ideal en suite bathroom, probably an immediate project since there is just one shower in the entire house. Another tiny room at the top of the house is used as a linen room.
A neat terraced front garden is planted with flower beds. The 35-ft-long back garden slopes gently down to the foreshore. This is lawned, with shrubbery on both sides, stone walls and granite steps down to the shoreline.
