An A-rated property where the glamour is dialled up to 11. It's a yin-and-yang of light and dark that includes a nightclub-like all-black ensuite, a basalt kitchen, and an outdoor wellness deck with pool and hot tub.
Back when Ireland offered tax breaks to artists, marquee-name rock and roll stars flocked here to escape the tax man and enjoy the relaxed way the locals dealt with them.
In a pre-social media age, nobody needed security details to go to the local pub for a swifty.
Address: Foxglove House, Glannagilliagh, Co. Kerry, V93 XW01
Asking price: €795,000
Agent: Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty
If Foxglove House in Glannagillagh, Co Kerry, a short stroll to Caragh Lake, one of this corner of the Kingdom’s most beautiful loughs, had been for sale back then, you could imagine rockers such as Joe Elliott from Def Leppard or Ronnie Wood from The Rolling Stones taking up residence here.
For this is a house whose aesthetic is a ying and yang of light and dark that features a palette of dark shades, pale woods, splashy surface - baroque n’ roll, 21st century style.
The four-bedroom, five-bathroom house offers all the creature comforts of modern life along with the kind of high-octane décor one expects from one’s rock stars.
The first hint that this is the large, covered porch, whose interior has been wrapped in blackened larch.
It’s a practical addition to a property in a part of the world where the wind can blow hard, and the rain can be horizontal.
It means you can drop groceries, take off outdoor shoes, all from a sheltered spot where there is a bench to sit down.
The panelled, solid mahogany double front doors open the hall completely, revealing an open tread staircase and a gilded bench upholstered in a luxe-to-the-touch leopard print fabric.
There are two reception rooms, one on either side of the hall.
The dining room is to the right and features an oval-shaped pedestal table along with Jonathan Adler-style lounge chairs set around a corner fireplace. Underfoot is a zebra-printed pony skin.
There are Tudor-esque beams overhead and a tapestry that could have come from a chateau in France hanging on the wall.
In summer, you can step out to a screened porch from here.
Across the hall, the living room has a terracotta-coloured coffered ceiling with tan leather seating set around an electric fire.
By her own admission, the owner, a US architectural designer and licensed general builder, loves a dark palette.
She remodels homes for a living and took a busman’s holiday to overhaul the bungalow she and her family bought in 2020.
Now completely remodelled and upgraded, it boasts an impressive A3 BER rating, making it energy efficient and ambient to live in.
“I brought a lot of my American design sense” to the project, she explains.
“I do a lot of work for bachelors and enjoy a masculine look. I love black and a kind of sexy vibe.”
The kitchen, a striking monolith of Nero Marquina quartz, exemplifies this.
Basalt in colour with gold seams, the material clads the countertops and fronts of many of the cabinets. There is an expanse of workspace, including a central island.
The space is equipped with state-of-the-art appliances that include a Range Master cooker, complete with a cold water pot filler tap above the hob, Fisher and Paykel dishwasher drawers and a suite of Liebherr refrigeration that includes a fridge, freezer with inbuilt ice and filtered water dispenser, and a wine fridge.
If mere mortals wonder how the space is kept looking immaculate, that’s because there is also a back kitchen, where much of the dirty work is done, keeping out-front clutter-free.
It includes a freezer, an oven, a second dishwasher and a waste disposal system - there is a second one in the main kitchen.
At the opposite end of the kitchen is a walk-in pantry for dry goods storage and a light-filled laundry room where there is a large 18 kg Samsung washer and heat pump dryer.
The counters here feature a seamless Calacatta gold quartz worktop.
A bio-ethanol ceiling suspended fire hangs in front of the full-height glazed screen between the laundry room and the pantry.
One of the four double bedrooms, which is ensuite, is also at this level. There are three more doubles upstairs.
One has a walk-in wardrobe, the other an ensuite bathroom, while the principal has both. Its ensuite is like something out of a nightclub.
The walls are black, as are the sanitaryware surrounds. Above is a mosaic-tiled ceiling that glitters when it catches the light.
The family bathroom is in complete contrast, featuring marble-effect tiling on all surfaces.
The property, which extends to 215 square metres, is set on landscaped grounds that include a firepit area, picnic tables set under a pergola and a wellness deck.
It includes a sunken hot tub, a heat-pump-operated heated lap pool, and loungers to curl up on and read a book.
While the setting is rural, you can walk to Carraig Country House or enjoy the lakeside charm of Ard Na Sidhe Hotel.
Caragh Lake is so close that the family wheel their kayaks there on a trolley on foot.
Agents Lisney Sotheby International Realty is seeking €795,000 for the property, which is about eight kilometres from Glenbeigh village, six kilometres from the town of Killorglin.
Killarney and Kerry Airport are both within a 33-minute drive, while the journey time to Cork Airport is about an hour and 45 minutes.
