Rocca dream home
After 23 years in residence, Annette Rocca has decided to sell Shanna in Castleknock for €2.495m, writes Mark Keenan
Shanna 15 Homeleigh Porterstown Castleknock Dublin 15
ASKING PRICE: €2.495m
AGENT: Sherry FitzGerald (01) 8201800
SHANNA is the type of house many of us might imagine as we do the weekly Lotto and fantasise about how we’d spend our winnings. It ticks pretty much every one of those ‘dream house’ boxes — a modern home in a classical style, it has its own tennis courts, an acre of private grounds with professionally manicured gardens and all set securely in a swish city location behind a set of grand entrance gates.
It comes with its own leisure centre which includes a private indoor heated swimming pool, a private gym, a five-seater Canadian hot tub jacuzzi, a four-seater sauna. The house has a pillared porch double door entrance leading into a grand hall with a sweeping staircase. There’s and a Grillhut BBQ house specially imported from Finland. It comes with a Shomera-housed games room with its own bar, where you can entertain friends and family.
For many years, Shanna was that dream home for Annette Rocca and her husband Patrick of the famous Rocca Tiles business empire, who died tragically in 2009.
Today almost a decade on, and with her two boys reaching adulthood, Annette has decided to sell the remarkable home. “This house also holds many happy years for us, but now it’s time to close the door and move on. The boys are now doing their own thing more and more and it’s become too big for my needs. I’m looking to trade down and I’d really like another family to enjoy it,” says Rocca.
“We bought the house 23 years ago. What we loved about it was the privacy and the size of the gardens. It was near family for visiting and we loved the area. I’m from Banagher in Offaly and it’s close the M50 so it was always handy for heading down to see my dad.”
The house was initially gutted over a nine-month period by the Roccas after they bought it from the previous owners and the pool house was added at this point. It has since had a second revamp which concentrated on making it brighter, to bring more light inside.
For top-end buyers who want a big house with grounds but don’t want the maintenance and repair hassles associated with a period pile, Shanna should also tick all the boxes.
The granite pillared entrance leads in to the reception hall with its marble-tiled floor with mosaic detail trim. A wide elegant marble staircase sweeps upwards, with specialist hand painting by Nathaniel Clements, to the gallery landing above. And of course, there’s a handsome crystal chandelier shimmering overhead.
A substantial drawing room off the hall looks out over the garden with marble floor and coal-effect gas fire. There’s ornate coving and a centre ceiling piece.
The formal dining room is similarly fitted and also looks over the front garden. There’s a family room and a conservatory in Canadian pine wood and red brick. “The kitchen has always been the hub of this house and the centre of all the activity and conversations,” says Rocca.
The kitchen/breakfast room has views over the rear gardens and the tennis court. The solid wood hand-crafted units are designed in a Christian-style in classical cream with granite work tops. There are mosaic tile splashbacks and a very large standalone island unit to sit many for cups of tea and casual dining. The floor is in Oporto honed marble tiles, which also features in the family room and conservatory.
There are dual pull-out larders for clever storage and a classic cream special edition two-oven gas Aga with a matching two-oven electric hob. The sink is a Franke Belfast-style in Villeroy and Boch. There’s a Neff American fridge-freezer with ice maker and filtered water, a Neff integrated dishwasher and microwave. Off the kitchen is a utility with similarly fitted kitchen units and pull-out larders. An additional storage room houses the electrics and controls — this house has a Bose surround sound system and speakers with three-phase electricity.
Upstairs the master bedroom looks out over the gardens and onto the golf course. There’s a Christian-style dressing table and a very large ensuite bathroom with a corner bath and a super-charged pressure shower, Jack and Jill wash hand basins, a bidet and WC. Also off the master changer is the dressing room with fitted shelves, rails and purpose-designed shoe racks. A Stira stairs leads up to a converted attic currently in use as a home office.
There are four more bedrooms, one of which has its own ensuite. The main bathroom comes with a large jacuzzi-style bath, a walk-in shower, twin hand basins, a bidet and WC.
Outside the detached double garage has remote doors and the travertine marble floored Shomera entertainment room is equipped with a hand-carved wooden bar with beer taps, a fridge, glass washer and an ice maker. There’s a mahogany pool table and a customised pillar houses a screen and a music system. The swimming pool and gym room has a changing area and there’s even a big screen to watch TV in the pool.
The Rocca family is selling through Sherry FitzGerald and seeking €2.495m.