Peace and quiet at the Priory in Blackrock

The owners of Kinara, a lovely detached house at 3 Priory Avenue in Blackrock, must have been feeling brave when they bought the house 20 years ago. Built in the 1940s, it had rudimentary plumbing, rather tattered electrics, and very little kitchen to speak of. Nevertheless, “there was a lovely feel to the house, even though there really was nothing in it,” they say.

They set to modernising it, and with three children to house, added a two storey extension, bringing it to its current 204sq m (2,200sq ft). Designed by Paul Brazil, who has put his stamp on a number of houses in this neck of the woods, it's a bright addition that has created a cosy-yet-light kitchen that opens up into a large dining area and garden room. This in turn leads through double doors to a sittingroom; a large and comfortable space with a nice cast-iron fireplace.

There’s also a den, utility room, downstairs cloakroom and a further room which is currently set up as a dining room, but as you’re much more likely to want to spend your eating time in the sunny dining area near the kitchen, this would make a study or playroom.

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All these spaces came into their own when the owners’ children were growing up. “It’s an unbelievable house for kids. Being so close to schools, they’d have all their friends over,” the owner says. “We’d have three sets in different parts of the house, it was lovely.”

Now that the family has grown up, the house is quieter; quiet enough to enjoy the birds in the back garden, attracted by the brook that runs to one side. “I love the sound – the water and the birdsong.” There’s a deck, patio and lawned area behind, and plenty of gravel parking to the front.

Upstairs are four bedrooms, all doubles, two of which are en-suite. There's also a small study area. The house is beautifully maintained and presented, is full of light, and there's room to extend if you wanted even more space. At €1.75 million with Savills, viewing is by appointment.