At the top of Cornelscourt Hill, close to the Brighton Road/Brennanstown Road junction and the centres of Foxrock and Carrickmines, Claremont Pines is a quiet, varied development of large detached houses.
In 2008 the owners of number one demolished the existing property on the 0.3-acre corner site and replaced it with a larger one designed by Dún Laoghaire-based architect Tony Mullen. It fits two Foxrock bills — Edwardian in style and top-class modern luxury in substance — and is now on the market through Sherry FitzGerald with an asking price of €3.75 million.
The house, shielded by mature trees and electric gates, achieves an admirable blend of period-style elements and modern convenience, with high ceilings, sash windows and pocket-sliding doors setting off glossy, marble-finished bathrooms, the smartest Design House Dalkey kitchen, and a chute connecting to the laundry room in the huge basement. The Ber is B3.
The timber porch leads into a double-height hall, setting the scale for the 530sq m (5,715sq ft) of well-appointed, flexible and interconnected accommodation. A formal drawing room, with softly lit bespoke shelves framing a doorway, and a bay window looking out to the front garden, opens through to a formal dining room. This opens to the garden through French doors, and leads into the family room that in turn links to the kitchen/breakfast room, lit by handsome glass doors.
Also on the ground floor are a utility room just for boots and coats, a study and — signalling pure luxury — an extra but discreetly positioned kitchen/bar/party preparation room that connects the main kitchen to the formal dining room.
Upstairs are five lovely bright double bedrooms, of which three share a large bathroom and one, at the front, is en suite. The main suite occupies the full depth of the house, with the bedroom in the bay-window section to the front and the bathroom and walk-through wardrobe to the rear.
At the lower level, accessed via stairs off the hall, is another bonus; in addition to a second study, the laundry, the communications/engine room and a tonne of storage space, there is a whole extra suite with bedroom, bathroom and dressing room, perhaps suited to a student, an au pair or a grandparent. The main body of the basement, currently fitted out as a lounge, could work as a gym or a games room; there are lightwells at the north and south sides and windows to the east and west.
This substantial house sits on large, very private gardens, beautifully designed by Doyle Landscapes, with formality in specimen trees and hedging, informality in patios and dining areas orientated to catch the sun.
