Modern meets traditional in family six-bed

Foxrock: €3mA large kitchen with French doors opening onto a garden designed by Helen Dillon is the heart of a warm family home in Foxrock. Orna Mulcahy, Property Editor, reports

When gardening guru Helen Dillon is called in to "do" the back garden of a house, you can be sure the property is worth viewing, and such is the case with Linden, at Brighton Road in Foxrock, Dublin 18.

The six-bedroom house which will be auctioned by Lisney on October 6th carries a guide price of €3 million.

This is a strong guide for Lisney but the owners, a Dublin medic and his German wife, are not prepared to take less for the house that they designed from the ground up nine years ago.

They bought the site as the builder was laying the foundations and so were able to rework the plans to suit themselves.

The result is a large modern house with the easy lived-in feel of a traditional home, but without the draughts and the leaks.

Located at the Carrickmines Cross end of Brighton Road, it's a large house with over 325sq m (3,500sq ft) of living space and a terrific layout for a family.

The ground floor rooms radiate from a large welcoming hallway floored in Mexican terracotta tiles and with an impressive marble fireplace. Upstairs the bedrooms lead off a gorgeous bright landing lit by a huge rooflight. There are three reception rooms - a family room, diningroom and a large drawingroom with a wide opening leading through a study overlooking the back garden.

The diningroom, which overlooks the front garden, is a warm atmospheric room with its deep red walls. The drawingroom is a far larger room with French doors to the garden.

As is often the way in a house of many rooms, the family tends to congregate in the kitchen, which isn't surprising, as it's the nicest room in the house.

The same terracotta tiles create a unity with the hall, while the green Aga cooker adds warmth all year round.

French doors are open all summer to the garden, where Helen Dillon's white and pale blue scheme is maturing nicely around a central, perfectly laid croquet lawn. Tomato and pepper plants are coming along well against one sunny lawn, while tables and chairs are arranged to catch the sun for both breakfast and dinner.

Beyond the kitchen is a utility room, and a back hallway leading to a toilet and onto the integrated garage, which offers a miraculous amount of storage space.

Upstairs, plants flourish on the landing thanks to the light overhead, and the polished floors look good scattered with oriental carpets. A policy of less is more reigns on this floor where each bedroom is simply decorated.

The main bedroom suite has masses of space that includes a walk-in dressingroom and a bathroom with a pleasantly masculine feel thanks to mahogany-style units.

A large front garden - this time designed by Rachel Lamb with an opulent show of white hydrangeas and wisteria - completes the package. There is plenty of space to drive in and park behind the electronically controlled gates.