His and hers homes, or intergenerational living, just 15 kilometres from Dublin’s city limits
North of Blessington, its lakes, rowing and sailing clubs, on the outskirts of the village of Manor Kilbride, is a pair of 19th-century cut-stone-fronted schoolhouses in a woodland setting that is spell-binding.
Together, they comprise 277 square metres of space, which is the size of three 90 square metre three-bed semis.
What you get for that is a storybook setting and space to live together, but not necessarily cohabitate or at least have the luxury of being able to choose.
The property comprises two detached houses, which had originally been separate schools for boys and girls.
The larger of these is now a two-storey four-bedroom, one-bathroom property.
The other is a one-bedroom, two-bathroom abode with a distinctly 1970s vibe.
Surrounded by mature trees, including Scots pine and conifers, you can see both from the road.
The one-bedroom property then became the school, and the bigger house became the master’s house.
The school has a large open-plan space, a living room with three windows with a steel frame, and an open-tread staircase that leads up to a mezzanine office.
The kitchen is down a set of steps.
It features many 1970s decorative tropes from the terracotta-tiled floors to the mosaic-tiled bathrooms and its all-white kitchen units topped with scrubbed timber countertops – all of which can be seen back in vogue in the Japandi trend, a Japan cum Scandinavian portmanteau mash-up.
The bedroom is in an extension to the rear.
It has an ensuite shower room and features a wall of glass that frames the sylvan views.
The canopy of a large lime tree acts as a curtain between the two.
A path leads across to the master’s house.
Access to this is across a bridge worthy of appearing in an Irish version of the Norwegian fairy tale, The Three Billy Goats Gruff.
Like the goats, you can trip across the timber structure and into the house where you enter at the first-floor level.
This has a large broken-plan living space.
A spiral staircase forms the spine of the house and leads down to the four bedrooms, some of which are singles. The property's only bathroom is at this level.
Bounded by dry stone walls, it is an idyllic place to live and work.
It will suit those looking for an intergenerational set-up where some grandparents might want to live near their grandchildren.
It will also suit those looking to buy a home with an income-generating potential.
You could short-let the one-bed and live in the big house.
Selling agent Lisney Sotheby is seeking €835,000 for the F Ber-rated houses.
