A retired Dubliner spent €250,000 bringing water features to his sea view home’s acre of gardens at Baily in Howth
Asking price: €5m
Agent: Sherry FitzGerald (01) 8394022
Most of us long to live beside a river or a the sea. But Howth resident Robert Healy has taken that quest to its zenith. Since buying Carrigkeal, a 6,500 sq ft luxury home overlooking Dublin Bay in Howth, the retired design business owner has turned the property into a Mediterranean style terraced home where he has surrounded himself with “the sound of water”. In doing so, he spent a quarter of a million.
Robert Healy. Photo: Barbara McCarthy
“The house looked completely different when we bought it in 1999,” he says. “We have a place in Spain, where we spend six months of the year, so we wanted a Mediterranean feel. It’s an acquired taste – there are fountains, water features in the garden and a stained glass window in the living room.”
Healy and his wife Michelle shared the five-bedroom home with their two children, who have recently flown the nest. “We’re not using all the spaces in the house, so it’s being wasted and we want to get something smaller. But I’m a perfectionist, so I’m still adding my signature to it. There’s always something to do.”
With all his projects over the years, there’s a common flow to the work he has done on this home which looks out to sea. “I wanted to hear water no matter where I was on the one acre of land, so I got water installations around the garden.”
After moving in, the couple spent €250,000 doing up the garden. “It was a lot of money back then, but it would be so much more now,” says Healy.
An aerial view of Carrigkeal. Photo: Barbara McCarthy
“We initially worked with outdoor designer Martin Crosby on the outside space and creation of an entertainment area. He brought the fountain at the front of the house over from Turkey. We also have a functioning well in the driveway – you can drink water out of it. It was there when we moved in, but I got a thatched roof put on it, which matches the thatched roof in the entertainment area at the top of the garden.”
The entertainment area at the top of the terraced garden used to be an apple orchard, but Healy loves parties, so it was turned it into a party area: “We have a bar, kitchen, surround sound and WC installed up here, so you don’t have to go to the house.
“It’s great at night, because you see the lights in the bay from the big wooden table. It also looks onto the full-sized tennis court.”
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The outdoor party area at Carrigkeal. Photo: Barbara McCarthy
The garden paths are lit all the way to the top. “Light and water are big themes in the house and garden.”
“We don’t really use the tennis court, but when my wife was recovering from an operation last year, I created a decking area at the edge of it overlooking the bay,” says Healy. “It has a custom couch and chairs so you can watch the sunsets. On the other side, behind the tennis court, you’re directly looking at Howth Head, which has lots of goats roaming around.”
Carrigkeal’s outdoor party area photographed during the day. Photo: Barbara McCarthy
The stonework across the garden is local. “We used Howth rock for all the stonework. We bought more stone for this project than the local quarry usually sells in a year.”
Much of the outdoor detailing – vases, fountains, and carved stone pieces – were imported from Spain and Turkey, thanks to the inspiration for big garden pieces came from landscaper Michael Finnegan. “When he started working with us, he was just back from America, where he was working on big gardens, so he brought the inspiration of big items. He also created a low maintenance irrigation system.”
The outdoor seating area at Carrigkeal. Photo: Barbara McCarthy
Healy installed a bar into his living room around 15 years ago. “You can have a cocktail from the bar on the terrace. The fine art lamps are from the US while a stained glass window on the ceiling was inspired by a church in Spain. It’s handmade. I got strip lighting that I can dim in the room. At nighttime you don’t want it too bright. All the lights in this room are on a smart app system.
“The wide floor boards in the living room are bespoke and we’re getting in floor covering specialists coming to look after them.”
The bar in the living room at Carrigkeal. Photo: Barbara McCarthy
The house is divided into two- over three floors. The upstairs house, with five bedrooms, three bathrooms, and two guest WCs over two floors and a self contained apartment on the lower ground floor.
Upstairs, the water theme is also present. An aquarium separates the kitchen from the living area.
The pool at Carrigkeal is currently not in use. Photo: Barbara McCarthy
On the same floor, a spa area with a jacuzzi, steam room, and changing area opens onto a sheltered courtyard. And of course, there’s an indoor pool, albeit temporarily mothballed. “We haven’t used the pool in 15 years – again, because we’re away half the year, it’s not really worth it. The buyer of the house would have to have it recommissioned. You’d have to bring in experts to get it going, but it’s a great feature.
“The walls of the swimming pool area were hand-painted by a Polish artist we commissioned. She lived in the house for four months, while she was painting them. Back when I moved in my ESB bill was less than €2,000, 25 years ago – for two months – including the pool. Prices have gone up since then, unfortunately.”
A view of Carrigkeal’s self-contained apartment. Photo: Barbara McCarthy
In order to combat rising costs, Healy installed 30 solar panels in 2024, which helped bring the home’s energy costs right down.
The self-contained apartment on the lower ground floor, accessible from the driveway, was built last year.
“The house has underfloor heating and a SieMatic German kitchen and Miele appliances. There’s one bedroom and behind it, you have a big walk-in wardrobe and sliding glass doors open from the dining area to a balcony overlooking the fountain and Dublin bay.”
A Carrigkeal garden path lit up at night. Photo: Barbara McCarthy
“Every room faces the garden and the sea. It doesn’t feel like a basement – it’s more like a second home.”
Healy says the house would be perfect for a family who want to move in with a relative with separate living areas. “It’s also a great house for people who like sports- it has tennis, swimming, and you could put in a gym or home office. Then there’s golf at the Golf course right outside – and the sea. It’s time for someone else to enjoy it.”
Healy reckons he spent around €1.5 million on the house and garden over the years. “It’s a lot of work, but I love it. I’m always doing something. We want to stay in Howth and get a smaller place. Once you live up here, you don’t want to move. I’m a Northsider so I’ll stay here.”
Sherry FitzGerald seek €5m.
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