A coastal architectural 'ring fort' set into the Hill of Howth and seeking a cool €4.95 million, offers room to breathe in the bracing sea air, watch the sun rise, and the ebb and flow of shipping channels. Celebrity neighbours include Vogue Williams, whose own Howth home is just down the hill.
A rare hilltop site in Howth with stunning sea views, Heather Cottage is surrounded by natural beauty. It is a contradiction in terms.
You expect something small and cosy. Instead, it sits into the landscape atop the Hill of Howth, one of the capital’s alpha addresses, more of a 21st-century take on a ring fort than a cottage.
Its sci-fi splendour looks like something you’d expect to see in either the Dune or Star Wars film franchises.
Address: Heather Cottage, Upper Cliff Road, Howth, Co Dublin, D13 A326
Asking price: €4.95 million
Agent: Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty
It was designed by the late Andrzej Wejchert of AD Wejchert and Partners (which became Wejchert), a Polish architect who left his stamp on several well-known Irish buildings.
These include the brutalist administration building in UCD, part of the original campus masterplan created by Wejchert after he won a competition in 1964, the Helix, a glorious temple to the arts at DCU, and the Glasnevin Cemetery Trust Museum, which possesses a gorgeous swooshing roofline, a signature of many of his works, including Heather Cottage, whose zinc roof is visible from the upper Summit trail.
The five-bedroom, one-bathroom detached house is the last word in discretion.
Set on seven acres, it offers the next owner two roof terraces from which to take in the spectacular oceanfront views that include the landmarks, Ireland’s Eye and Lambay Island.
Its creator has imbued the house with a sense of place.
Achieving planning permission in an area of spectacular beauty such as this proved difficult and required several redrafts.
The restrained build pays homage to the area by cladding the detached house in local Howth Stone – a yellow ochre coloured sandstone – so that it sits into the landscape and the surrounding gorse.
Built in 2005 by the then-owner, Johnny Ronan and Richard Barrett’s Treasury Holdings, it last came to market in 2010, the depths of the crash, when it measured 270 square metres, was set on a plot of 0.85 acres and was seeking €2.5 million.
With an extension added by architect John Meagher, who established the deBlacam and Meagher practice, the footprint is now a sizeable 340 square metres.
The house has a two-storey bedroom wing, comprising two bedrooms and a sturdy on the lower level and a further three bedrooms on the upper level.
All the accommodation is en-suite.
A split-level single-storey living wing is what will wow for every area of the house offers privacy.
Up a set of steps from the hall is a sitting room with a central, double-fronted fireplace with inset stove, where there are two areas to lounge in and lots of wall and floor space for art, befitting the owners, who are sculptor Patrick O’Reilly and his wife barrister and ballet enthusiast Gerardine Connolly, whose work as Honorary Consul of Ireland to Venice and northern Italy has allowed her to pursue that long-standing passion.
She is setting up a ballet project in La Serenissime with former Paris Opera dancer Alessio Carbone.
Across the way is the eat-in kitchen, off which there is a sizeable utility room that extends to 12 square meters, the size of an average double bedroom.
The kitchen leads through to the dining room, with lots more wall space and on into the hall of glass, a space that includes dining and seating areas.
The B2 Ber-rated residence features large areas of glazing, double-glazed thermally broken aluminium framed windows that bring the outdoors in but don’t overexpose you to the elements.
The private grounds extend to over seven acres and offer unrivalled sea views.
There’s a viewing deck beside a treehouse and stables for equestrians.
The grounds have been used as an animal sanctuary, and three donkeys and two alpacas remain, currently cared for by neighbours.
The location offers the freedom to enjoy bracing winds and watch sea and yacht life, surrounded by excellent golf and schools, as well as fast public transport links into the city, which is a drive of about 30 minutes.
Dublin Airport is 20 minutes away by car.
Vogue Williams lives down the hill about 500 metres. She recently opened her door to Dermot Bannon’s Celebrity Super Spaces to show him around the place and to let viewers see the spectacular views
Agents Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty is seeking €4.95 million for the cool coastal home.
