Best heritage homes in Co. Wicklow

Teevinore: a seaside Victorian with very good bones

Some houses make their case through polish. Teevinore makes it through survival. The listing dates this semi-detached house to 1900 and says it has been in the same family's hands since 1970. That long continuity seems to have left a great deal of the late Victorian house in place. Bay windows face the street, and a terracotta-tiled path runs to the door behind wrought-iron gates. Inside, the photographs show fireplaces, cornicing, panelled doors, sash windows and generous ceiling heights that appear to run consistently through the main floors. The agent notes that La Touche Road takes its name from the family who shaped much of Greystones' early development. The setting is the house's other great asset, with the beach at the end of the road and the town and DART station a short walk away. Upstairs, the top-floor rooms are described as having sea views. A first-floor rear terrace, which the listing praises for its sunrises, adds a pleasing surprise. The house is clearly standing and usable, but it is tired. Its appeal lies in careful, systematic refurbishment that keeps the character the agent rightly says a new build cannot copy. The listing also mentions a rear pedestrian right of way out to Kimberley Road.

Worth checking: The listing states that the house requires complete renovation throughout, and it carries a BER of G. Although it appears habitable, buyers should expect a substantial refurbishment project rather than a move-in-ready home.

Springmount House: double-fronted grace on a tree-lined road

Church Road is one of Greystones' leafier streets, and Springmount House fits it well. This double-fronted Victorian townhouse has a rendered façade, a bay window and an arched entrance with a fanlight. Inside, the period rooms appear well cared for. The listing and photographs show a marble fireplace, internal shutters, cornicing and a ceiling rose in the living room. Across the hall, the drawing room has a cast-iron fireplace and built-in shelving. Original-looking timber floors and fireplaces continue upstairs. A half-flight down, the house becomes more relaxed. A kitchen and dining space lit by rooflights shows how the house has adapted to family life without losing its older rooms. The upper floors are where its height pays off. The agent describes views from the bedrooms towards the sea, Bray Head and Howth, and inland to Bellevue Hill and the Sugarloaf. Above the town, one window looks across to the former La Touche Hotel. The village, seafront and station are all close by. This is a house for people who want period rooms they can actually live in, with the sea in sight and the town on the doorstep. The agent adds that planning permission has recently been granted for a vehicle entrance, should a new owner want off-street parking.

Glenair House: a Regency-era villa in generations of garden

The listing dates Glenair House to the early 1800s, and its symmetrical rendered front has the calm, measured look of that period. The principal floor sits over a garden level. Granite steps rise to a porch canopy with wrought-iron railings, and a panelled door is framed by scalloped timber. The agent describes ceilings of around twelve feet. The photographs show marble fireplaces, cornicing, ceiling roses and timber shutters that the listing says still work. A bow window in the study is lined with books. The garden level has been reworked more boldly as a modern kitchen and family space, but it keeps working shutters and opens onto west-facing terraces. The agent's account of the grounds is unusually lyrical, describing specimen trees and borders that have been tended and layered over generations. Whatever their exact age, the mature planting clearly gives the house its sense of seclusion. There is also a stone-faced gate lodge, which the listing suggests could suit family, guests or a home office. Glenair works well for those who want a substantial period house that already feels settled and comfortable, set in an established garden within reach of Delgany village.

The Grove: Arts and Crafts calm on the Burnaby

The Burnaby holds a particular place in Greystones' story. The agent describes it as Ireland's first planned residential development, conceived in the 1890s by Elizabeth Hawkins-Whitshed. The Grove came later, and the listing dates it to around 1928. It shows the softer side of house design between the wars. A sweeping tiled roof comes down to low eaves, dormers peep out from the slope, and rendered walls sit among mature trees. The listing highlights original leaded steel-framed windows. Inside, the timber joinery, panelled doors and stair detail appear to keep the house's original personality across the main rooms. The rooms are arranged for easy family life, with open fires in the living and dining rooms and a stove in a further reception room. A conservatory and updated kitchen have been added without overwhelming the original form. The gardens are the great luxury here. They run to just under half an acre according to the listing, wrap around the house, and include fruit trees and raised beds. It is a gentle, private place to live, a short walk from the town and the sea. Arts and Crafts houses of this era were generally designed around light, garden and honest materials, and The Grove still feels true to that idea.

Cúram House: Gothic Revival gables in the heart of Enniskerry

Enniskerry is famous for its picturesque architecture, and Cúram House plays its part with gusto. The listing dates the house to around 1840. Its gabled elevations carry decorative timber bargeboards and corner quoins, and the entrance porch is framed by a Tudor-style arch. That kind of romantic, slightly theatrical detail was fashionable in Irish and British villages of the period. Inside, the split-level plan gives the house an intriguing, unpredictable quality. Two reception rooms sit at entrance level, with the kitchen and dining room below and bedrooms arranged over two levels above. The photographs suggest that room proportions, timber floors, the stair balustrade, panelled doors, fireplaces and cornicing all survive. There is some plaster loss and visible wear in places. The setting is about a third of an acre of mature grounds within walking distance of the village, with Powerscourt and the Wicklow Mountains close by. The house appears to be standing and usable. However, it is plainly ready for a thoughtful owner who will give it the patient, conservation-minded renewal its character deserves.

Worth checking: The agent states that the house requires comprehensive refurbishment and is listed on Wicklow County Council's Record of Protected Structures. Any works, and the surplus site development potential the listing mentions, would be subject to the relevant consents.

Patchwork: a 1970s landmark stepping down to the Swan River

Heritage does not always mean Victorian. The listing says Patchwork was designed by the architect Lindsay Johnson, was built in 1973, and was featured in the Architects' Journal in April 1977. The agent calls it a familiar local landmark in Bray. The house cascades down its sloping site over four interconnecting levels. Lime-rendered walls meet a sharp, geometric plan. A great central chimney stack divides the living and dining space, and a wrought-iron spiral stair climbs to a book-lined gallery beneath exposed timber joists. A cantilevered bay pushes out over the garden. External steps lead up to a roof terrace set among the treetops. The photographs suggest that the original design ideas remain clearly legible. According to the listing, the house had an extensive and sympathetic retrofit around a decade ago. The grounds are a remarkable feature too, with mature terraced planting running down to the river, all a few minutes' walk from Main Street. For anyone who loves late twentieth-century architecture, Patchwork offers something rare in Wicklow. It is an architect's house that is still being lived in the way it was designed to be.

Benevenagh: a Victorian end-of-terrace with a musical past

Benevenagh sits in the Old Burnaby, the older heart of Greystones. It is an end-of-terrace Victorian house with a tiled entrance porch and tall sash windows, and the agent says it was once the home of Ronnie Drew, a founding member of The Dubliners. That association, as presented by the listing, gives the house a pleasing human story. The architecture holds its own as well. The front rooms keep their ornate coving, ceiling roses and fireplaces, and the listing describes the fireplaces and the hardwood staircase as original. Historic-style cast-iron radiators sit comfortably in these rooms. According to the agent, a renovation completed in 2020 brought a new roof, double-glazed replacement sashes and an open-plan rear extension with a bespoke kitchen. This arrangement is familiar in Victorian terraces, where the formal rooms face the street and modern family life spills out to the back garden. The period rooms appear to have been treated with respect, and the house presents as a finished, comfortable home. It is a short stroll from the harbour, beaches and DART, with lane access from the rear garden described in the listing.

Yarra Yarra: a late Victorian survivor facing the harbour

According to the listing, Yarra Yarra was built in the 1890s by the La Touche family. The agent says it is one of three houses on Beach Road that survive as a reminder of late Victorian Greystones. Today it sits beside the modern marina, and that contrast is part of its charm. The front is its glory, with twin projecting bays and an enclosed porch under a pitched tiled roof, edged with delicate timber fretwork and glazed panels. Inside, the listing points to an original staircase, marble fireplaces, high ceilings and ornate coving. More recent additions include double-glazed sashes and a heat pump. The house's recent chapter was commercial, as the base of the telecommunications company Goldfish, and some upper rooms still show office fit-outs. The agent suggests the house is well suited to returning to family life. The top floor is especially promising: a room spanning the full width of the house, which the listing describes as having views over the sea and harbour. A courtyard and a roof terrace looking towards Bray Head complete a house that combines seaside history with a town-centre address.

Worth checking: The listing describes the property's recent use as offices and says that full residential use would require some reconfiguration, subject to final approval by Wicklow County Council. That approval is not guaranteed.

Hill View: a stone cottage in the south Wicklow hills

Hill View is a reminder that heritage can be modest. This two-storey stone cottage stands in the townland of Ballinglen, between Aughrim and Tinahely, where the Wicklow foothills fold towards the Wexford border. Its stone elevations, small gabled porch, chimneystacks and deep window reveals give it a plain vernacular honesty. Cottages like this were typically built for practical rural life rather than display. The listing notes an original open fireplace in a ground-floor room and original pine floorboards upstairs. A Rayburn in the kitchen keeps a familiar country rhythm. The windows have been replaced with modern units and the kitchen and bathroom updated, but the traditional scale and layout appear intact. The house looks ready to live in as it stands. Outside, the agent describes just over an acre of lawn with mature hedgerow boundaries. A cut stone wall and pedestrian gate front the lane, and there are two outbuildings. The Wicklow Way and Tinahely's cycling loops are nearby. It would suit someone who values space, quiet and an unpretentious old house more than period grandeur.

Lawn View: an estate-village façade carefully brought back

On Church Hill, Lawn View belongs to the Gothic Revival and picturesque streetscape that gives Enniskerry its storybook quality. The listing dates it to around 1860. Its front is the main event, with decorative gable bargeboards, finials, sash windows and an elliptical-headed front door that the agent describes as original. According to the listing, the façade was restored under the guidance of a conservation architect. The bargeboards, fascia, sashes and rainwater goods are handcrafted replicas in durable Accoya timber and cast fittings, so the street elevation is best understood as a faithful reinstatement rather than surviving original fabric. Behind it, the house has been comprehensively reworked. A vaulted open-plan kitchen and living room sits on the first floor under rooflights and opens to a deck. Two reception rooms have restored antique fireplaces, and a heat pump and underfloor heating are described as achieving an A-rated BER. Purists will note how much of the interior is new or period-style. Even so, the result is a warm, carefully finished home that respects the street it belongs to, a short walk from the village square.

East Gate Lodge: a woodland gatehouse grown into a family home

Gate lodges were usually built to announce the approach to a larger estate, and many carry a little extra ornament for that reason. The listing dates East Gate Lodge to around 1874. Its stone walls, steep slate roof, gabled dormers and decorative bargeboards still show its gatehouse character from the outside. The agent places it against the backdrop of the Glenart Castle and Ballyraine Middle woodlands, a few kilometres west of Arklow. However, the listing does not set out its specific history in relation to that estate. According to the listing, the lodge was extended and fully refurbished in 2008. The interior now feels largely contemporary, with exposed granite walls in the living room as a reminder of the original structure. Bay windows, a marble open fireplace and a vaulted dining room open towards the garden. The agent describes the grounds as running down to the Ballyduff stream, with decking, lawns and a tree house. It is a practical, comfortable family home whose old stone shell and wooded setting give it a sense of place that a newer house would find hard to match.

21 Killadreenan: a cottage front with a long garden behind

Small cottages rarely get the attention given to big period houses, yet they are just as much a part of Wicklow's built story. No. 21 is a single-storey semi-detached cottage with an extension to the rear. Its street face keeps a pleasing traditional rhythm, with segmental brick window heads, a pitched roof, chimneystacks and tall windows. Inside, the rooms are modest and have been altered over the decades with newer ceilings, doors and finishes. Fireplaces in the living and dining rooms preserve a little of the old domestic pattern. The agent presents it as a home in need of updating, and the photographs suggest a house that is lived in and usable rather than derelict. Its great asset is the long, mature rear garden, which the listing describes as having views towards the surrounding countryside and hills. It also has room to extend, subject to planning. For a first home, a downsize or a gentle renovation, this is a chance to shape an unassuming cottage with care while keeping the front that gives it its charm, within easy reach of Newtownmountkennedy village.

Worth checking: The listing describes the cottage as in need of modernisation and records a BER of G, so buyers should plan for updating works. The agent refers to suitability for a vacant property grant subject to criteria. Eligibility has not been established here and is not guaranteed.

Garrison House: centuries of stone behind Bray's Main Street

Few Wicklow homes claim a story as long as this one. The agent states that Garrison House was built in 1692, which would make it Bray's second-oldest building. According to the listing, it was first a barrack and was later converted to a fever hospital in the 1800s, before becoming a private home. Those particulars come from the listing rather than independent verification, but the building's exterior gives them weight. Its stone walls are dressed with quoins and a granite door surround. Inside, the house has been comprehensively refurbished, with an oak and glass staircase, a modern kitchen and contemporary bathrooms. Old granite quoins from a former window survive as a feature in the family room, beside an inglenook-style brick fireplace. The listing notes that the parcel also includes two adjoining modern apartments. Behind the house, an old stone wall encloses an elevated garden, and the agent describes views across the Dargle and People's Park towards the Dublin Mountains. It suits anyone who wants a richly historic address with thoroughly modern comforts, tucked off Main Street and close to the station and seafront.

Worth checking: The listing presents the house together with two adjoining apartments as an entire parcel. Buyers should consider how this combined arrangement fits their plans.

The Cottage, Knockanree: a quiet vernacular project above the Avoca valley

This is the kind of small rural house that once defined the Irish countryside. It is a simple, symmetrical three-bay cottage with a central door, a chimney stack and a roof that, from the photographs, appears complete. It stands on a mature, sloping site that the listing describes as just over half an acre, close to Avoca village. Inside, it has an unaffected charm. Exposed timber joists span the two front rooms, each with its own fireplace, and the bedrooms upstairs have panelled timber ceilings and timber floorboards. Modern alterations look minimal, so the old shell and room layout have stayed readable. However, the cottage has clearly been neglected. The photographs show serious damp and peeling finishes. The listing states that the property is currently without services and that a well and septic tank would need to be installed, subject to the necessary consents. Bringing it back would mean major work throughout, not redecoration. For a patient buyer, the reward could be an authentic countryside home shaped with sympathy for its modest vernacular character, surrounded by trees and quiet.

Worth checking: According to the listing, the cottage has no services, needs a new well and septic tank subject to consents, and is suitable for cash purchasers only. The photographs indicate severe damp and the need for major refurbishment. No assurance can be given on cost, consent or feasibility.