Annacrivey is a striking, detached art deco home tucked away on Kill Lane in Foxrock, Dublin 18. It is one of a pair of identical houses built around 1950 by architect Anthony Johnson.
Together with its neighbouring twin, Aghanloo, they comprise a “neat, self-contained ensemble [that make] a pleasing, if largely inconspicuous, visual statement”, the National Inventory of Architectural Heritage website states.
The facade of Annacrivey certainly makes a bold statement, featuring bright, whitewashed walls, a front door with a cantilevered canopy and vertical strips of opaque glass blocks running towards the flat roof.
The current owners of Annacrivey bought it in 2017 and had it refurbished and extended in 2019 under the supervision of Kruger Lyons architects. They were keen to preserve the distinctive art deco features, and wanted the renovation to be a celebration of the house’s minimalist aesthetic.
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The expert eye and attention to detail are evident throughout, from the chevron engineered oak flooring to the curved corners and bold geometric forms.
The house has been extended on each side in a dark brick that tastefully contrasts with the art deco facade. The five-bedroom home now extends to 283sq m (3,046sq ft), with substantial gardens measuring 0.12 hectares (0.3 acres), plus a gym and storage area at the end of the back garden that adds an extra 51sq m (552sq ft).
Annacrivey is Ber exempt and is now for sale through Sherry FitzGerald, seeking €2.15 million.
You know you’re at the right place when you see the name of the house engraved on the terrazzo steps leading up to the front door. Terrazzo was a key element of art deco design in the 1920s, and the speckled polished terrazzo floor in the entrance hall, with its rich emerald-coloured border traced with hairline brass, brings the era to mind.
Just inside the entrance hall is an understairs cloak cupboard. To the right is a diningroom facing the front garden, with recessed floor lighting and a fitted sideboard for storing crockery and silverware.
Dark-grey oak floors laid in a chevron pattern continue into a dual-aspect family room where French doors open to the back patio.
Left off the entrance hall a study sits to the front of the house with a fitted office unit that incorporates drawer and shelf space.
The large livingroom to the back of the house gets lots of light through glazed Crittall-style walls and a door from the hall, wall-to-wall windows and French doors leading to the back patio. The centrepiece of the livingroom is the marble art-deco fireplace, which the owners sourced.
Three steps from the inner hallway lead down to the superb kitchen/breakfast room extension, which confidently carries on the art deco theme, with curved ceiling-height windows looking out to the back garden, and the signature rows of reeded glass bricks illuminating the side wall.
Curved banquette seating at the breakfast table adds a twist of luxury living, and the high-end fitted kitchen by Noel Dempsey features soft matt-black storage units, including a larder cupboard with concertina doors and off-white quartz worktops.
A large utility room and guest loo complete the downstairs accommodation.
Another art deco element is the concrete balustrade running up the stairs, while the stairwell is dominated by the vertical glass brick feature seen from the outside of the house.
Upstairs, the main bedroom mirrors the kitchen’s shape, with a curved wall and six vertical rows of opaque glass bricks. It is en suite and features a large dressingroom.
Bedroom two, overlooking the back garden, and bedroom three, overlooking the front, are large doubles, both with fitted wardrobes, and each with its own en suite.
Bedrooms four and five are also doubles, with fitted wardrobes. There is also a large bathroom with white honeycomb ceramic floor tiles, a contemporary oval free-standing bath and a Crittall-style shower unit.
A large patio to the back of the property has lots of space for outdoor entertaining. The rest of the garden is laid in lawn and there a patio area with seating and a gas firepit at the end of the garden for relaxing in the evening sun.
Outside, the separate gym has rubber-tiled flooring and a mirror with strip lighting, plus a sauna with terrazzo-style tiling. Next to the gym is a large storage room with electricity.
