Great interior style in Spa family home
istorically, spas have been popular for their waters but The Spa near Tralee seems to attract residents with its scenic location and sea views: the owners of Acraí, a spacious detached house at Schoolfield in the Spa chose a site with sea views on which to build their dream home.
Out for a Sunday spin back in 2002 they fell in love with this site - and bought it just five days later.
It was one of 10 half-acre sites on the site of an old school field located three kilometers from Tralee and within a few minutes’ walk from the Spa village which has two restaurants, a primary school and a playing pitch.
Although the purchase was quick, it took the owners two years to finalize the plans for this five-bed 3,500 sq ft house which they finally built in 2005. The specifications given to local architect Michael Hurley was to design something practical for everyday family living, but which would also work well for entertaining.
They also told him that they didn’t want a square shaped house with regular shaped rooms. “We asked for interesting features and a natural flow,” says the lady of the house admitting that she changed the plans often enough to qualify Castleisland builder John Stack for sainthood.
The end result is a spacious and comfortable home which accommodated a family with three children during their teenage years and where birthday celebrations for up to 70 people have been held.
While the partially stone-fronted exterior doesn’t, from the front, seem all that different from many of the large detached houses which went up during the boom, it does have quite a number a number of features which make it stand out.
The most striking may well be the curved wrought-iron spindles, which are used on staircases and balustrades at both the front and rear of the house: the owner wanted wrought-iron spindles like she had seen used in balconies in France.
Local craftsmen were used to create two staircases — an oak staircase with cream spindles at the front and a gold coloured spiral wrought-iron staircase with oak treads at the rear.
The stone-clad tower built at the side of house to accommodate the spiral staircase, is yet another distinctive feature in this very decidedly un-square shaped house.
The owner mostly got her wish for no regular-shaped rooms, and some have doorways which have been placed at an angle to cut off the corners Fitting out the interior, the services of several local craftsmen and an interior designer were employed.
Lighting was a key feature and in the main living areas the house has two sets of lighting so there is an option of dim or bright The ground floor is largely open plan and the colour scheme is quite neutral with gold, creams and beiges – with curtains in similar colours and varying patterns bringing it together.
Splashes of colour are added by pieces of furniture such as a striking red chair in the style made famous by Christine Keeler. In the hallway a tumultuous blue seascape painted by Kerry artist John Hurley occupies pride of place.
The central living area is a large L-shaped sitting room with a feature bay window, a fireplace and oak flooring.
This room offers the best views in the house looking out from the side across Tralee Bay over to Blennerville The kitchen/dining room is also very large with Shaker-style units in golden oak and cream, granite worktops.
The central feature in the room is a hand-painted, ivory island unit topped with sensa granite. Abstract shaped, this has a large extractor fan above it.
Other rooms at this level include a family room, a utility room, an en suite guest bedroom as well as a small study. To the front there’s a large reception hallway overlooked by a galleried landing.
The space upstairs is occupied by four timber-floored bedrooms, including three with en suites as well as open-plan balcony area used as a den.
The expansive master bedroom measures 28’ by 17’ and has a walk-in wardrobe and an en suite with an air bath. It all has a B3 energy rating with zoned controls and underfloor heating at ground level.
In the grounds,there’s a 500 sq ft detached garage, extensive lawns and a large patio running the full length of the house at the back. Surround sound fitted though out the house has also been brought out to the patio.
Acraí has been put on the market after the family’s youngest child departed for college. Guiding at €520,000, it is the first of the ten individually houses which were built on the school-field site to come up for sale.
Auctioneer Gerard Carmody says this is a wonderful family home and that the location in The Spa is one of the most desirable in Tralee.
Back in the 1830s the village attracted visitors for its mineral spa and its bathing, but memories of the spa have faded.
: the area’s current residential popularity is evidenced by the fact that Oyster Hall in the Spa which sold for €530,000, was one of the most expensive sales in Tralee last year.
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