{"id":111132,"date":"2025-10-09T12:35:18","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T12:35:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/111132\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T12:35:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T12:35:18","slug":"sandymount-home-of-camile-thai-and-gifts-direct-founders-for-e2-45m-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/111132\/","title":{"rendered":"Sandymount home of Camile Thai and Gifts Direct founders for \u20ac2.45m \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Address:<\/strong> Strand Lodge, 5 Strand Road, Sandymount, Dublin 4<\/p>\n

Price:<\/strong> \u20ac2,450,000 <\/p>\n

Agent:<\/strong> Sherry FitzGerald<\/p>\n

View this property on MyHome.ie <\/a><\/p>\n

After more than two decades at Strand Lodge in Sandymount, Lulu O\u2019Sullivan and Brody Sweeney are preparing to leave the house that has been their family base since the early 2000s. With their children grown up and moved out, the couple say the house now feels too large for their needs, and they\u2019re looking to downsize in the Dublin 4 suburb.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Sullivan is chief executive of TheIrishStore.com and GiftsDirect.com, and Sweeney was the man who turned O\u2019Briens sandwich bars into an international brand and is the founder of Camile Thai Kitchen. With both involved in fast-paced businesses, they were drawn to Sandymount for its balance of city access and seaside calm.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe never wanted to be sitting in traffic after a long day,\u201d says O\u2019Sullivan. \u201cHere you\u2019re living in the city yet on your doorstep you have the most beautiful walks and then a great village around the corner.\u201d <\/p>\n

Strand Lodge, a two-storey-over-garden-level house on Strand Road, was built in the 1870s and has views out across Dublin Bay. The Ber-exempt property extends to 422sq m (4,542sq ft) and is now on the market through Sherry FitzGerald with a guide price of \u20ac2.45 million.<\/p>\n

Inside, the layout follows the classic format of the period, with a few contemporary adjustments. The main entrance, up a short flight of steps, opens into a bright central hall, lit from above by a circular roof light that pulls light down from the window at the top of the house. To the left, two interconnecting reception rooms retain their original proportions and period features, with the drawingroom to the front and diningroom to the rear.<\/p>\n

\"Hallway\"Hallway \"Drawingroom\"Drawingroom \"Diningroom\"Diningroom <\/p>\n

To the right of the hallway, a self-contained suite was created for O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s mother. It includes a livingroom, kitchen and bedroom, and though adapted for independent living, it mirrors the original detailing of the house, including ceiling coving and sash windows with shutters.<\/p>\n

At garden level, the kitchen and breakfastroom span one side of the house, opening on to a southwest-facing garden. The kitchen reflects the family\u2019s interest in food \u2013 unsurprising, given Sweeney\u2019s background \u2013 with an Aga, pantry, island unit and double fridge-freezer. O\u2019Sullivan says the space has hosted everything from dinner parties for 20 to larger gatherings of more than 100 people.<\/p>\n

\"Kitchen\"Kitchen \"FamilyFamily room <\/p>\n

Also on this level are a more informal family room, a study and an en-suite bedroom, as well as access to the garage and garden.<\/p>\n

Upstairs the main bedroom has views out to sea and includes an en-suite bathroom. There are three further bedrooms on this level, one of which is also en suite, plus a family bathroom.<\/p>\n

\"MainMain bedroom \"Bathroom\"Bathroom <\/p>\n

The front of the house has off-street parking on the gravelled driveway for four cars, with an EV-charging point already installed. Behind the house, the private rear garden faces southwest and includes a patio for outdoor dining.<\/p>\n

\"ViewsViews from front door \"RearRear garden <\/p>\n

For O\u2019Sullivan, the location, just across the road from the Great South Wall and a short walk from Sandymount village, has been a constant draw, even after 21 years. \u201cYou can\u2019t beat Sandymount \u2013 it ticks every single box. The village is just so special with a real sense of community and a gorgeous atmosphere and not too chi-chi. Still, every morning when I go out to work, I just see the sea and think, Oh my gosh, look at those views.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Address: Strand Lodge, 5 Strand Road, Sandymount, Dublin 4 Price: \u20ac2,450,000 Agent: Sherry FitzGerald View this property on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111133,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[69049,79,69048,69046,13413,41185,18,69047,19,17,69050,22736,39175,1266],"class_list":{"0":"post-111132","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-brody-sweeney","9":"tag-business","10":"tag-camile-thai","11":"tag-coastal-living","12":"tag-dart","13":"tag-dublin-4","14":"tag-eire","15":"tag-gifts-direct","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-lulu-o-sullivan","19":"tag-new-to-the-market","20":"tag-sandymount","21":"tag-sherry-fitzgerald"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111132","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111132"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111132\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}