Sunglasses alert: Sleek and light-filled Donegal four-bed designed by architect Caroline Dickson has 180-degree views of Lough Foyle and views from all corners of the property.
On the Inishowen peninsula, Ireland’s most northerly point, beyond the village of Redcastle, is a palatial pavilion set just above the water’s edge on the shore of Lough Foyle.
The slick, A3-rated house was finished in 2018 and refurbished in 2023 and has 180-degree views of one of Co. Donegal’s most beautiful loughs.
The vista takes in the Binevennagh Hills, which are listed as an area of outstanding natural beauty.
Address: Bankhead, Tullyally, Redcastle, Co. Donegal, F93 DPF1
Asking price: €1.6 million
Agent: Savills
Designed by Derry-based architect Caroline Dickson, who was considered the godmother of modernism in the northwest, it was constructed with its own sea wall using locally sourced block armour, and has a specialised water treatment system installed that takes into consideration the fact that Lough Foyle is a salmon run.
The current owner, a Dutchman, has reinforced the seawall, spending about €150,000 futureproofing the coastal residence against sea level rises, according to selling agent Cianan Duff of Savills.
He also landscaped the grounds to dramatic effect, laid a new driveway, reseeded the lawns and installed a putting green.
It also has geothermal heating in the form of underfloor heating across its two floors.
Its triple-glazed windows are set in anodised aluminium frames that can stand up to the weathering of such a demanding maritime setting.
It’s an upside-down house, its architect Dickson explained, to this writer, the last time it came to market in 2021 and sold for €910,000, according to the property price register.
In the early years of her career she worked with Scott Tallon Walker and Liam McCormick’s office, the architect responsible for seven contemporary churches in the county including St Aengus Church in Burt, inspired by Grianán of Aileach, the stone fort on the summit of Greenan Mountain, and St. Michael’s in Creeslough, whose round shape echoes the shape of Muckish Mountain behind it, a guardian of the village.
She was the diocesan architect for Derry and Raphoe for 40 years. She passed away in 2024.
You enter the steel-frame pavilion with its vast expanses of glass via a gantry-style walkway into a vestibule, creating a pause, showing only a sliver of the view, before you enter the open-plan kitchen, living diner.
This space is so light-filled that on some mornings, you may need to reach for your sunnies.
From a swivel chair in the sitting room, its former owner, a racing-car driver, liked to take up a pair of binoculars and drink in the views from Derry city to the south, all the way north to Magilligan Point.
From the glass balustraded balcony on the seaside, he often surveyed the activities of the local seal colony.
The kitchen is a sleek, handleless design with deep drawers under the island where a stepped countertop forms a breakfast bar.
The main bedroom is also at this level and has a sizeable en suite.
This is accessed via a stairwell illuminated by a large ridge-level skylight.
Two of its four double bedrooms are at ground-floor level, where there is also a snug and a games room, along with a utility room the size of the smallest bedroom.
Agents Savills is seeking €1.6 million for the four-bedroom property, with two en-suites, which extends to 244 square metres.
