‘I designed my home from layout to door handles in a German showroom’

Asking price: €1.395m

Agent: Sherry FitzGerald (01) 2874005

Trips to the Austrian mountain resort of Mayrhofen left a lasting impression on pharmacist Fiona Roche. So much so, the Greystones native decided to build a home inspired by her ski holidays.

The unusual detached house is laid out over three floors totalling 4, 273 sq ft with five bedrooms and three bathrooms.

“I always loved Austrian/German design – the skylights, big windows and sturdy builds. Houses are spacious, but homely and with lots of light flooding in, double garages, cellars and floor to ceiling windows.”

Fiona and her then husband sat down with architects in 2005 to design a family home in Greystones. “We had a wish list – lots of bedrooms for a big family, good fixtures, a sauna, and big double glazed windows.”

She has lived in Greystones since childhood and owns a pharmacy at the bottom of her driveway. “We bought the land – an orchard, just behind the pharmacy. There’s a view of Greystones and it’s just a 10-minute walk to the sea, where I go swimming every day.”

With its famed cliff walk and beaches, Greystones is a popular destination popular for day-trippers, swimmers and health food enthusiasts with foodie cafes, bars, restaurants, its harbour and it’s close to Dublin and the Wicklow mountains.

Once the couple had a design, they contacted Hanse Haus, a German company making prefabricated houses. “It was the Celtic Tiger era, so they had offices in Ireland,” says Fiona. “They’ve since left but they’re still all over Germany.

“Once you have a consultation and decide you want to go with the Hanse Haus, you go to their headquarters in Germany and visit their show houses.

“It was incredible. There were around eight or more house types including family houses and detached homes, multi-family homes and small homes with different designs.

“We picked floors, fixtures, laundry chutes, door handles, every finish and every colour. You just walk through the show house and pick what you want from each – the options were endless.

“We wanted a skylights, a double garage, abundance of space, a bright entrance hall and open plan kitchen/family/dining room with dual aspect, balconies and storage.”

Fiona was pregnant at the time, so one trip to Germany was enough to get everything the couple wanted. Back in Ireland, the foundations were laid quickly.

“All the planning was done off site, so when it came to building it, German precision saw the project completed bang on time,” says Fiona.

“Once the foundations were built, it was done in less than five months to complete and we moved in in December 2005.

“The builders took such pride in the building. They wore shoe covers at all times. There wasn’t a piece of rubbish or newspaper on the ground, they treated the house with such respect.

“Different crews came for different sections of the house and they stayed on site. The finish is extraordinary. We’ve never had a problem with anything. We’re 100pc happy with it.”

Fiona’s 19-year-old son was born in the middle of the building project, so she went from the hospital straight to the new house. The master bedroom is at the top floor, and she made a nursery out of what’s now her walk-in wardrobe.

“Having a baby and building a house at the same time should be stressful, but it really wasn’t.”

One of the highlights of the home is the insulation, says Fiona. “The Velux windows are the game changers.”

In Germany windows open inwards, making them easier to clean and because they’re all double glazed, the house is warm and soundproof.

“We have underfloor heating and good insulation, so heating costs are low. The place also gets warm quickly and you only need heating between November and March. There’s gas boiler on each floor and each floor has its own thermostat and fuse box for general electrics.

“It’s a big house, but you don’t feel overwhelmed by the size. It’s very manageable. In Germany, there’s no such thing as a good room. They use all the rooms. So I move around the house a lot.”

Fiona loves all three floors of the house. At entrance level, after walking up the stairs outside, there is a living area, kitchen and balconies.

“There are two on the first floor – one offering an easterly aspect and the other with a south-facing aspect. Off the kitchen there’s a large pantry with its very own dumbwaiter and laundry chute.”

The walls are rendered in the kitchen area. Upstairs is what Fiona calls the “piece de resistance” – the glass-fronted living area with high vaulted ceilings with a mixture of floor to ceiling windows and clerestory windows allowing natural light to pour through. Her son plays the piano there and it’s home to the annual big Christmas tree.

The main bedroom suite is to the rear at this level. “I love being able to see the harbour from my bed and watching the sunrise. It never gets old.”

The floor also has a luxurious ensuite with a step in shower, Jacuzzi bath, his-and-hers walk-in wardrobes and wash hand basins.

At the ground level is a double garage which her son has turned into a gym. “The rear part of the house has a home office, guest bedroom, additional living space and a shower room complete, sauna and there’s a Jacuzzi outside – it’s great this time of year. We love to entertain.”

There’s trees and garden to either side and Fiona prides herself on a patio she created at the front of the house, where she likes to read a book. The tiered rear garden is at the back of the house offers lots of privacy.

“We been here for 19 years and love it,” she says. After separating from her husband, Fiona says the house is too big for her and her son. “We thought we’d have more children, so we built a house with five bedrooms, which we don’t need. We’ve had lots of milestones here, like my brother’s wedding and lots of family visits, but it’s time to move on.

“I want another family to enjoy it. There’s no rush to sell, but there’s been lots of interest, just because it’s so well built and the stunning location. We’ll buy something smaller nearby – or maybe buy something in Mayrhofen.”

Sherry FitzGerald seeks €1.395m for Treetops.