A touch of Dubai in Clontarf

BUYERS – and estate agents – talk about new owners “putting their own stamp” on a property and it can mean anything from changing the colour of the front door to a roof-to-foundations renovation.

The owners of the detached bungalow at 2 Blackheath Grove, Clontarf, Dublin 3, certainly went for the latter option when they bought 10 years ago and every square centimetre of the property, both inside and out, has been designed and decorated to suit their taste and lifestyle.

Accessed down a lane off Blackheath Park, the Grove is made up of five large houses which were built around 1900 as outbuildings and stables for nearby Clontarf Castle. Number 2 has three bedrooms and stands on a quarter of an acre and really is secluded, with a large front garden hidden behind electric gates. It is for sale through Sherry FitzGerald for €1.59 million.

The owners opened up the house giving it an open-plan feel and covered most surfaces with natural materials, from the beige-coloured stone cladding on the walls in the hall, to the Portuguese limestone flooring in most rooms, to the white and grey marble tiles in the kitchen. With specially commissioned glass art pieces, spectacular lighting fixtures as well as elaborate stone wall panels, it’s a look visitors to luxurious homes in places such as Dubai will be familiar with.

Everything is cream or white except those touches of colour provided by mosaic tiles in the bathroom and on the floor in the upstairs studio area. This was created by knocking two bedrooms together – the house once had five bedrooms. The main bedroom has a sunken bath and a balcony overlooking the back garden. One of the other bedrooms has an en suite and there is also a mosaic-finished wetroom.

The kitchen is one of the most attractive rooms in the house. Fitted with contemporary Poggenpohl units, and featuring a large, Corian-topped island, it opens into the back garden. It has a covered bar finished in mosaic and porcelain.

While there is a great deal of space iwith the property, it is probably not one for a family with young children – there are too many hard surfaces. But the large open-plan downstairs rooms which open out to the garden makes it ideal for entertaining.

Woodstock, 2 Blackheath Grove, Clontarf, D3

Refurbished three-bed detached bungalow on 0.25 of an acre

Agent: Sherry FitzGerald