SANDYCOVE €1,175,000:WILMONT LODGE, off Wilmont Avenue, in Sandycove, is not easy to find. That is, if you rely on sat-nav and find the idea of stopping strangers for directions mortifying. The internet is remarkably fruitless, and Wilmont Avenue is not on Google Maps. Still, I get there eventually, guided by the position of the sun and by a friendly passerby who, confusingly, explains "this is Dalkey – if you go back down Sandycove Road you get to Glasthule". But where is Sandycove? "In the middle."
At the end of Wilmont Avenue – which, for the record, is a left turn around 200m past Spar on Sandycove Road, heading towards Dalkey – is a small gate with a sign that says “private”, through which you’ll find Wilmont Lodge, an 1,800 sq ft Georgian house for sale with Lisney, asking €1,175,000.
There is no mistaking it; Wilmont Lodge is handsome, and wouldn’t be out of place on the set of Downton Abbey. To the left and right immediately inside the front door are, respectively, the sitting room – with gas fire and original wooden floor – and the drawing room, which leads on to the dining room behind.
There is a small wet room, and then we’re at the kitchen, which is distinctive for its lack of modernity, but there is something homely about its six-ringed gas hob and blocky breakfast bar.
Past the kitchen and we’re on to the pantry and larder, a small utility room with WC and then outside to the garden, which is completely private and quite mature, with a patio area and leafy shrubbery as well as, around to the right, more paving, a coal store, boiler room and garage, currently in use for storage but with space for two cars, nose to nose. Not that you’d need it; out front there is ample parking, away from ticket inspectors.
On the upstairs landing, before we need intrude on the sleeping areas, is the main bathroom, with bath – while three bedrooms and the office-slash-nursery-slash-playroom are up another small set of stairs. The bedrooms are well proportioned and two have sea views, although only if you peer through the windows. The master bedroom has an en suite nestled into a vaulted ceiling and is a clever use of space, although it feels slightly Lilliputian, something that is perhaps aided by the presence of a bidet which, upon first glance, looks like a tiny toilet.
Where Wilmont Lodge will be sold is on the space and feel of it – it has maintained its original Georgian dimensions and design, without compromising on mod cons. And Sandycove is, after all, a lovely area - once you find it.
Wilmont Lodge, Wilmont Avenue, Sandycove, Co. Dublin
Description:
1,800 sq ft Georgian house
Agent: Lisney
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