“When people come in the drive,” says one of the owners of Glenair House – a Regency three-storey home in Delgany, Co Wicklow, dating from 1804 – “I wanted them to see it as it looked over two centuries ago.” The couple bought the 358sq m (3,853sq ft) detached hunting lodge in the late 1990s and have meticulously maintained and decorated the listed property, so it now presents to the market in wonderful condition.
Glenair House has been run as a farm, an equestrian operation and headquarters for a business, but it is first and foremost a gracious family home that the current owners say has been filled with happy memories. Sherry FitzGerald is handling the sale, seeking €3.1 million for the four-bed property on 1½ acres.
Old wrought-iron gates open on to a gravel drive. The garden is studded with some fine old trees and shrubs, copious hydrangeas and voluminous rhododendrons.
Its exterior is deceptive, it looks like a single-storey home from the front aspect, it reveals another level as the hilly site slopes down at the rear of the house. On the left is a small, detached gate lodge that provides an extra 50sq m (538sq ft) of accommodation, with a bedroom, a kitchen/livingroom and a bathroom.
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The entrance hall of the main house is impressive, lit by a fan light with warm-hued wooden floors and wallpapered feature walls. The house sits true to the compass, so the double aspect reception rooms on either side of the hall benefit from the sun’s progress from east to west throughout the day.
The room on the left is currently the main bedroom, with a dressingroom and luxurious en suite behind it. On the right of the hall is an elegant drawingroom, decorated in tones of cream and gold, with a marble fireplace and ceiling heights of over 12ft.
Behind the drawingroom is a white-walled study with fantastic views over the landscaped gardens. Completing the accommodation at this level is a guest toilet and an en suite bedroom with a balcony overlooking the back gardens.
On the lower floor there are two more bedrooms, one which has a lovely fireplace, and a livingroom that the family have used as a TV room. There’s a cellar and storage lying under the front steps and to the rear of the floor, a boot/utility room and a bathroom.
The centrepiece of the house is the large, light-filled kitchen, which has French doors opening to an outdoor kitchen sheltered by a canopy. An Aga sits under an old arch at one end of the vast space and a marble-topped island divides the kitchen from the dining area. All appliances come in twin form: double Belfast sinks, double ovens, and two dishwashers. There are also two small appliance pantries: one is a coffee station, the other houses toaster and microwave. Tucked into the centre of the kitchen is its engine, a large pantry with a double Fisher & Paykel fridge.
Beyond the house, at the edge of the garden, is a large, detached games room and behind the house is a patio with an old bed of roses and an outdoor room. The rest of the garden has shaded walks and steep paths, established mature beech trees, and a couple of ponds. It’s an utterly charming, well-divided garden that is sure to beguile potential buyers as much as the Regency villa it surrounds.
