GAMES IN THE WEST WING
Enjoy the rural life in Oldtown within easy reach of the capital, writes Gabrielle Monaghan
A stone built house in Old Town Co Dublin comes with its own dedicated leisure wing
ASKING PRICE: €1.2m
AGENT: DNG Brady, (041) 9809999
IF staying in is the new going out according to Netflix and box set bingeing millennials, then a party pad like Housefield is not only ideal for cosying up to a Game of Thrones fest, but better still for inviting all your friends around. The six-bed detached dormer bungalow has just gone on the market in the Co Dublin village of Oldtown, it spans 4,500 sq ft and comes with a wing devoted entirely to leisure.
In 2008, the current owners transformed the two-storey detached garage beside their home to host parties, the family’s First Communions and Christenings. To the ground floor, they fitted a bar and high stools, along with separate ladies and gents’ toilets so guests need not venture into the main house. For their three children, they added a pool table, and for the grown-ups, a lounge area warmed by a gas fire with a marble insert and hearth.
On the first floor of the leisure wing is a fully equipped gym with hardwood flooring, recessed lighting and mirrored slide robes as a practice room for their daughter, an Irish dancing champion. Off the gym, patio doors from the rear landing lead to a terrace that overlooks the two acres of paddocks below, which are surrounded by post and rail fencing.
The architect-designer property also has its own stable block, complete with six loose boxes, a tack room and enclosed dog kennels — the entire package for a horse-and-hound lover.
The vendor says: “My husband hunted for a good few years and now my son is in the Ward Union and Fingal Harriers.”
Indeed, Housefield, which is set near the market gardening heartland of north Co Dublin, is proof that a rural existence is still possible within the confines of the county. Oldtown, which had a population of just 455 in the 2011 census, hasn’t suffered the urban sprawl common to other villages on the commuter belt because it is surrounded by land zoned as agricultural by Fingal County Council in a bid to protect its rural nature.
The home, which sits on four acres of land, was built by the vendors in 1999. It was constructed using stone from an Oldtown church that was knocked to the ground to make way for a development of townhouses called The Old School Yard, long before upcycling became a fashionable buzzword. They replaced the frames for the front bay windows and other windows through McNally Joinery in 2008, when the garage was converted into a leisure wing.
“We are in the haulage business and were asked to take away the stone from the church so we decided to use it to build the house,” the vendor says.
Local craftspeople were employed in the timberwork, such as the grand handmade decorative oak staircase in the hallway that makes the most of the vaulted ceiling, and the pine ceiling beams in the main family room, one of four reception rooms at Housefield.
The latter room, with a brick feature fireplace around a pot belly stove, leads into an open-plan kitchen/diner with a country-style kitchen fitted with a centre island unit, granite counter tops, a double gas Rangemaster, and a double sink — yet another space ideal for entertaining. The second, more formal sitting room comes with a cast iron fireplace and surround for the open fire and bay window.
The sitting room and kitchen each have doors to a west-facing sunroom with a pine ceiling, recessed lighting and access to the rear garden. Three of the six bedrooms (one en-suite) are also located on the ground floor, though one could be used as a home office.
Upstairs, there are three double bedrooms, all with recessed lighting and hardwood flooring. One of those is the master en-suite with walk-in wardrobes and occupying almost half the first floor. One of the other bedrooms comes with a built-in wardrobe and a partpine ceiling. The main family bathroom is fully tiled and features a corner Jacuzzi bath, a separate shower, a sink unit and a vanity mirror.
Outside, the property is approached via electronic gates and a tarmacadam driveway flanked by landscaped gardens.
There is a separate entrance running to one side of the property that leads to a 4,800-sq ft industrial unit, an adjoining covered parking bay with enough space for five lorries, and a concrete yard, all of which was used by the vendor for a plant hire and machinery business.
Donal Brady, the selling agent, says the new owner might want to use that space if they “collect classic cars. The premises lend itself to a multitude of uses — you could store a helicopter there if you wanted.”
For their part, the existing owners are in search of a new home in Co Dublin that comes with more land.
The vendor says: “My son and husband love farming and want to get into that, so we need somewhere further out from the village. But we’ll miss it — even though we’re in the country, we’re only 10 minutes from Swords and Ashbourne and just half an hour from the city centre.”
The B3-rated house is on the R122, a road that runs right through Oldtown village and links the Naul to St Margaret’s and Dublin Airport, which is 17km away. Residents can reach junction 4 of M50 via the R108, which connects to the R122.
Housefield is priced at €1.2m with DNG Brady (041) 9809999.
The current owners transformed the two-storey detached garage to host parties