Picture-perfect five-bed on sought-after Dalkey stretch

Address: 6 Saval Park Road, Dalkey, Co Dublin

Price: €1,900,000

Agent: Lisney Sotheby's International Realty

Number 6 Saval Park Road, Dalkey, Co Dublin, is a fine 1930s five-bedroom semidetached home that has been completely refurbished and extended over the years, with architectural features that evoke the art-deco design of Miami homes, and a picture-perfect back garden filled with lush acers, wisteria, herbaceous borders and a rich palette of floral colours.

The owners, Margaret and Barry Moore, are the couple behind the well-known Photogenic photography studio, which specialises in family portraits.

This year the Moores are celebrating 35 years in business, and for 28 of those years, 6 Saval Park Road has been their family home. The photos on the walls – all bearing the signature Photogenic style – chronicle a happy family life bringing up three kids. With the children now grown up and gone, the house has become too big for just two, so the time is right to move on and allow new owners to come into this superb home.

Number 6 Saval Park Road measures 250sq m and has a B3 Ber rating. It is on sale through Lisney Sotheby’s International Realty seeking €1.9 million.

When renovating and extending the house, the owners were keen to retain its 1930s character while creating contemporary spaces for modern family living. When extending the stairs, for instance, they kept the original banisters, spindles and posts, and replicated them for the new sections of stairway; they held on to the original bottleneck coving in the downstairs ceilings. They also designed their own front door, with glazing in both the fixed and opening sections.

The entrance hall has engineered herringbone wood floor and recessed lighting, and off it is a large understairs cloaks cupboard and a guest WC with marble tiled floors and partially marble tiled wall. The old part of the house flows nicely into the new kitchen, breakfast and family room via a cosy sitting and play area, and on to an elegant diningroom with dark, oak-lined bookshelves. This combined dining and reading space was designed by the couple’s daughter, an architect. Bifolding doors link to the livingroom at the front of the house, which has a wood-burning stove with Portuguese marble surround, slate inset and slate hearth.

The extension to the rear is distinguished by its feature curved walls; the breakfastroom is in its own bright alcove, with a curved window looking out to the west-facing back garden, while the family room has a lovely skylight and large glass doors opening out to the rear patio.

The kitchen, which also has curved windows looking out to the back garden, is fitted with plenty of cupboards and storage units, with worktops in timber and polished granite, and a big butcher’s block for seamless food prep. Appliances include a Smeg five-ring gas hob with extractor fan, Neff double electric oven, integrated Neff microwave and integrated Fisher & Paykel double-drawer dishwasher.

Off the kitchen is a good-sized utility room, plumbed for washing machine and dryer, with worktops, a Belfast sink and storage.

Completing the downstairs is a TV room looking out to the front that would also make a handy home office. It has feature porthole windows to the side and recessed lighting.

There are four bedrooms on the first floor, set around a big gallery landing; the main bedroom suite has a big curved window looking out over the back garden, and a row of feature glazed bricks bringing in extra light. The bedroom is entered via a large walk-through wardrobe with a small WC on one side. The main en-suite shower room has curved windows looking out over the back garden, with sylvan-themed privacy film over the lower part of the window. The main family bathroom is on this level, along with an extra WC and a hot press.

The fifth bedroom is an attic extension, but there’s plenty of headroom here, along with an en suite shower room, shelves, cupboards and eaves storage. Large windows look out over mature trees towards nearby Proby Park House. There’s access to attic space off the second floor landing.

The well maintained 30m back garden is testament to the Moores’ passion for gardening, and really comes to life with colour during the spring and summer months and provides a superb haven for all aspects of family life, from play to garden parties to al-fresco dining to quiet morning coffee.

Saval Park Road is within walking distance of Dalkey village, with a variety of great restaurants, cafes, artisan stores and boutiques. It’s also close to Sandycove and Glasthule, and within easy reach of swimming at the Forty Foot and walking on Killiney and Dalkey hills. Dalkey and Glenageary Dart stations are a short distance away, and schools in the area include Castle Park, Loreto Dalkey, Rathdown, St Joseph of Cluny, Harold and Killiney-Glenageary National School.