Princely home in trophy setting

The  €6.3m guide for Elsinore on Coliemore Road in Dalkey may seem huge - but it's less than the owners paid for it in 2000. Robert O'Byrne reports.

It seems likely that whoever buys Elsinore at auction on October 7th will have an interest in boats and sailing.

Located on the coastal side of Dalkey's Coliemore Road, the house, which is thought to date from the 1840s, comes with its own slipway, making the property irresistible to sailors, albeit those with pockets as deep as the Irish Sea since Sherry FitzGerald, which is handling the sale, expects it to fetch over €6.3 million.

Elsinore last came on the market four years ago, when it was acquired by the present owners for £5.1 million (€6.45 million), so the guide would seem to be on the low side.

The owners are now relocating to the country, hence the sale. During their tenure, they have carried out some work on the house - which has almost 557 sq m (6,000 sq ft) of living space - primarily on the ground floor where the pair of sea-facing reception rooms now enjoy matching white marble fireplaces and dividing doors.

But the next resident will probably want to reinstate more attractive and appropriate sash windows in place of the PVC ones installed at some earlier date throughout this side of the building.

Other changes might also be considered thanks to permission having been secured by the vendors for bays to be created in the drawingroom and diningroom and in the two bedrooms directly overhead.

There's approval also for the west-facing flagged terrace to be given its own steps down to the rear garden and for railings to be erected across the 100 ft of shore frontage, this last an important consideration for anyone with young children.

And while there's no permission for it yet in place, the next owner might be tempted to convert the large free-standing garage to the front of Elsinore's half-acre grounds into guest or staff accommodation.

Not that the place, at approximately 441 sq m (4,750 sq ft), is short of bedrooms, having six of these, the principal one at the moment on the lower level which also holds a sittingroom, kitchen, very large games room, utility space and guest suite.

The entrance level, in addition to reception rooms, has a study and what must originally have been a small morningroom. Meanwhile, the upper floor contains a further four bedrooms and bathrooms.

Flanked by equally grand neighbours, Elsinore has always been very much a trophy house but there's plenty of potential to make it a cosy family home as well. Especially if the family's interested in sailing.