Spacious Tramore home comes with an astonishing garden and suite of bars

Pub crawl in back garden with its range of themed bars is an easy-peasy slice of paella, says Trish Dromey.

Nothing like the standard estate house that it appears to be, this Tramore property has a tapas Bar, a tiki Bar and a sports bar around the back.

Its owner, an aficionado of all things Spanish, as well an enthusiastic Munster rugby fan who has become known locally as Paella Man, jokes that it is possible to go on a pub crawl in his garden.

Catering for a fairly diverse range of pursuits, he has also put in a well-equipped gym as well as a Zen garden for meditation at the back of his atypical, three-bed detached home at 33 Hazel Avenue in Monavoy Valley.

When he bought the property 14 years ago, he paid extra because it had a larger than average garden.

Since then he’s worked on five separate projects, which transformed this space into a mini entertainment complex with a distinctly tropical flavour.

It started shortly after he moved in with a 36 ft-long log cabin, which at one side has a gym, and at the other, a sports bar/snooker room. The owner found an artist to paint some wall murals — one shows Munster rugby players including Donncha O’Callaghan, one has Waterford hurlers and another depicts a scene from the Grand National.

Decorating the ceiling with sporting photos, he added a few framed jerseys, put in a full-size snooker table and invited friends around for a game.

His next project followed a holiday in Spain.

“I wanted to bring a little sunshine to the garden so I put in a Tiki bar and got an artist to paint palm trees on the walls and on the patio.’’

A local craftsman made the covered tiki bar for him along with a thatched umbrella to complete the effect.

Sometime after that, the owner decided to add a Zen garden for relaxation. Enclosed by log walls and an artificial hedge, it has an arched timber doorway and looks a little

Lord of the Rings(ish). Inside, surrounded by log piles, is a stone table and chairs as well a plum and an apple tree and some currant bushes.

The final addition a few years ago was a tapas bar. ‘”This used to be a space for logs and coal. I walked in one day and felt the heat through the plastic lean-to roof and thought, I could make better use of it”.

Over the next three months he got rid of the logs, brought in tradespeople to do the tiling and timber work to create the effect he wanted. Furnishing it with authentic looking cask tables and Spanish knick knacks, he got an artist to decorate the walls with colourful murals including one of a giant paella dish.

“While I was working on it, I kept it a secret but when it was ready, I invited people around and had flamenco music playing and candles lighting,’’ says the owner adding that he’s had some good parties with bands in his garden over the years.

Occupying pride of place in this very tropical looking space is a very large paella cooking dish. One of the owner’s many trips to Spain inspired him to start making his own paella for his tapas bar. This proved so popular that he decided to set up a part-time business with a paella van — selling it as Paella Man, in the local car park at weekends.

Although the owner put a huge amount of effort into developing his back garden as an entertainment space, he didn’t neglect the house which he renovated extensively two years ago.

Despite loving all things Spanish in the garden, he opted for a modern look with a touch of traditional in the house. Knocking the walls between the kitchen, sitting and utility rooms he created one long kitchen/sitting room stretching from front to rear.

Aiming for a cottage-style effect, he put in long timber beams on the ceiling and framed the division between the two rooms in thick oak beams. Modern, with white units, black marble countertops and a centre island, the kitchen has an old-style lantern which the owner found in a salvage shop.

In the timber-floored sitting room there are three old-style wall lanterns, a fireplace with a stove and a fish tank in the corner. The ground floor also has a WC and a timber-floored office which could also be a bedroom.

The upstairs has a bathroom and two bedrooms and a set of stairs leading to an attic which was converted two years ago. This has a carpeted room with Velux windows and fitted shelving.

Auctioneer Michael Guiry says this is a fantastic family home which is close to schools, bus routes and shops as well as Tramore beach.

Guiding it at €320,000 he says it’s very well finished and spacious with 1, 550 sq ft sq ft of accommodation.

And after many years of bringing a little bit of Spain to Ireland, Paella Man is now planning to take the next obvious step, and is making the move to Spain.

VERDICT: spacious modern home with an astonishing garden and suite of bars. Roll on the Twelve Pubs of Christmas.

Tramore, Co Waterford

€320,000

Size: 144 sq m (1,550 sq ft)

Bedrooms: 3

Bathrooms: 2

BER: Pending