You might think that the man responsible for turning Ireland green on March 17 was St Patrick, but the real hero of Ireland’s national day is James O’Mara, the MP who, in 1903, led the bill to make it an official holiday. A few years later, though, he introduced a bill to have the sale of alcohol banned on the day. Nobody’s perfect.
O’Mara, a businessman, millionaire and republican activist, lived in America and England before settling down at the Grove, a three-storey Victorian house in Killiney, in south Co Dublin, in 1925.
The house was built in about 1840 as a two-storey home. It was expanded to three storeys later in the century. O’Mara would live in it until his death in 1948; his widow, Agnes, until her death in 1958. The Grove became a nursing home in 1980, and would remain that way for more than 30 years. It was placed on the market for €4.5m in April and is being marketed by agents Knight Frank and Hooke & MacDonald as a fixer-upper.
Its 27 bedrooms, 18 bathrooms and a 1970s mansard-roofed extension at the back mean potential buyers will have much to do. We asked architect Feargal Foley, of Foley & Crowley Architecture and Design (fcad.ie), to tell us what would be involved. Foley met Niall Murray, of Rempress Holdings, the holding company for the Grove, at the house last week. Rempress has spent the past few years bringing some of the house back to its Arts and Crafts-inspired former glory, as the company wants to market it as a home. It has deinstitutionalised the rooms to the front of the house and cleared the elevated 2.17-acre site of some of its trees to reveal views of the Irish Sea towards Bray Head.
“We removed a huge amount of undergrowth here. It was a little bit like Jurassic Park — there was no view of the sea or Bray,” says Murray. “From the 1960s onwards, the gardens were let go. We had permission to take out trees. It was a removal, a restoration and crowning and topping exercise to get more light in and bring it back to what it was.
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“It was a private house for the majority of its years, so that’s what we’re trying to create here, to give people the impression of what it was like. We felt the property deserved it.” Murray also had an artist’s impression drawn up of what the house would have looked like in its heyday, before the extension was added.
Foley says it would take “somebody of considerable means” to purchase and develop the property into a family home — however, for that fortunate person, there is considerable potential here.
“What really sets this property apart from others on Killiney Hill is simply the size of the site. It is 36 metres back from, and 10 metres above, Killiney Hill Road, and this affords the property breathtaking views of Bray Head and the Irish Sea.”
The orientation of the house is east-west, which means it gets morning, noon and evening light. A large parking apron sits to the front, bordered by an Italianate balustrade. The original rooms are large and dramatic, with features that include stained-glass windows depicting the Arts and Crafts disciplines and ornate plasterwork. In one of the drawing rooms is an unusual inglenook recessed fireplace with seats on either side — it was where the O’Maras would play cards.
A small conservatory leads off the drawing room to the front. It has its original floor tiles, but its wooden facade has been replaced with uPVC windows. New owners will likely want to update it. Wood-panelled ceilings in the reception rooms may reveal old plasterwork when removed. Foley says there is also potential to reconfigure the entrance hall.
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“You could visually connect the entrance hall with the potential courtyard/light well further back, by replacing the staircase with a much grander one; however, it may be difficult to gain planning permission for such a move, given the protected status of the building.”
The original part of the house has 10 bedrooms, most with shower rooms. The mansard-roofed extension to the back of the house replaced a previous extension, where the O’Maras had a theatre and billiards room. Nowadays, it houses a large reception room but has 17 more bedrooms, store rooms and an old lift through the centre of the building.
“There is a striking juxtaposition when one opens a door in the refurbished portion and is greeted with the linoleum floors and magnolia-painted walls that allude to its previous life as a nursing home. This is where the real opportunities begin to arise,” says Foley.
“The development of the care facility has resulted in centrally positioned rooms that are deprived of natural light and ventilation. A light well or courtyard, in the centre of the building, would alleviate this problem and allow the adjoining spaces to be repurposed.”
Foley says buyers would probably knock down the structure at the back. “It has been extended and adapted to such an extent that it is of little architectural merit and is out of character with the Victorian building. There is huge scope to introduce a carefully detailed piece of modern architecture that projects out into the lower front garden to make the most of the southerly light and views.”
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New owners could add a modern kitchen, living and dining area here, opening out to a garden terrace, he says.
The Grove has planning permission for another two-storey, 292 sq m five-bedroom detached house on a plot of land behind the main house. The coach house could be converted, too. While returning it to a family home is a possibility, the Grove has other potential uses.
“Given the size of the grounds and the house, a small, upmarket, bespoke hotel might be better suited to the site, considering its location,” says Foley. “In the right hands, with the right team behind them, the next chapter in the life of this property could be very exciting.”
The lowdown
What it is: The Grove, a Victorian house that was extended to become a nursing home
Where it is: Killiney Hill Road, Killiney, Co Dublin
Layout: The main house has 27 bedrooms — 10 of those are in the original house to the front and there are 17 more in the extension to the rear. Most have en suite shower rooms. There is also a coach house to the rear.
Grounds: The house sits on an elevated 2.17-acre site that has views over Dublin Bay. There is a tarmac driveway at the front that has room for multiple cars and a mature garden stretching to the road. Trees include Scots pine, chestnut, walnut, cypress and eucalyptus. A pond with a natural spring has been covered with a patio, but this could be reinstated.
Price: €4.5m
Agents: knightfrank.ie; hookemacdonald.ie