Coastal living in a large, swanky three-bedroom Dun Laoghaire apartment combines contemporary living with classic features. Boasting oceans of space and seeking a cool €2.2 million, it also has a car turntable for underground parking manoeuvres.
Discreetly hidden behind a relatively anonymous masonry front is one of the most interesting boutique schemes in chi-chi coastal south county Dublin, featuring a period property.
Housed within the former Anglesea Arms Hotel on Crofton Road on Dún Laoghaire’s seafront, it includes apartments, duplexes and a penthouse set within the fine rooms of the former hostelry.
Address: The Brigantine, 9 Anglesea Collection, Crofton Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin, A96 K06X
Asking price: €2.2 million
Agent Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty
The redevelopment and renovation work was done by Ballina-based Bourke Builders, a second-generation house builder that states it has “A reputation built on quality”, a strapline on its website.
The fact that everything within the original part of the building was refurbished to a very high standard illustrates that point, starting with the communal areas, its sweeping staircase, the lift to all floors and the detailed cornicing.
Commanding compelling maritime vistas across its 212 square metres of space on the piano nobile, or first floor, of the property, the Brigantine is a three-bedroom, four-bathroom apartment that faces seaward.
It is, says selling agent Rory Kirwan, director at Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty, one of the nicest apartments he has ever had on his books.
Named after a two-masted sailing vessel that is square-rigged except for a fore-and-aft mainsail, it comes to the market in shipshape condition.
Much of the restoration work at Anglesea was completed in the company’s Ballina workshop, where many of the sash windows, shutters and floorboards were revived.
Insulation and acoustic board between floors minimises noise transfer.
There are period features aplenty, from original coving and ceiling roses – restored by the Old Mould Company, to original fireplaces whose tiled inserts, for the most part, are also original.
The apartment is really well-balanced, with an interconnecting kitchen, dining room and sitting room to the left of the entrance hall, where five, six-over-six, sash windows stand to attention harbourside, as if manning the rails, a design feature that maximises the natural light in the space.
From here, on a clear day, you can see across Dublin Bay to Howth.
The sitting room is dual aspect with sash windows of equal stature bookending its marble chimneypiece.
The three-metre ceiling heights reinforce the lofty sense of living.
Across the hall is the accommodation and a second living room.
This separate space is a luxury even in apartments at this prime level.
It opens out to a balcony that wraps around the room and has a southerly aspect.
The principal bedroom has an ensuite and a walk-in wardrobe.
The other two double bedrooms are en-suites, and there is also a utility room and a cloakroom.
The property, which is BER-exempt, is seeking €2.2 million through agents Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty and includes one surface car parking space, along with a secure basement parking space accessed via a lift and supported by two electric turntables for effortless manoeuvring.
The apartment is one of the many retail, commercial and residential developments Bourke Builders has been involved in. Established by Patrick J. Bourke in 1960, it is now run by his children: Brian, Emer and Joseph.
It has several strings to its bow, from residential to retail, education, civic and health buildings. In London, its high-end fit-outs include footwear king Giuseppe Zanotti’s Knightsbridge stores and fashion label Hugo Boss shops, as well as the conversion of office buildings to high-end apartments at Brixton Hill and nearby Coldharbour Lane.
Its conservation work in Dublin includes McKee Barracks and the lower house at TU Dublin’s Grangegorman.
Currently, it has a new build, A3 BER-rated four-bedroom, four-bathroom, 170 square metre house for sale in Sandyford village, outside the M50’s city limits, seeking €1.175 million through agents Brady & McCarthy and it is also building seven new homes in the grounds of Riversdale House on Riversdale Avenu, Rathgar, Dublin 6, where it will also refurbish the period property.
