Stately Foxrock home offers fine example of Arts and Crafts ethic

Abbotsford, on Brighton Road in Dublin 18, is a generous five-room residence built around 1909

Abbotsford, on Brighton Road in Dublin 18, is a generous five-room residence

Mid-19th-century England’s Arts and Crafts movement was sparked by a troop of architects, artists, designers and writers bound by a collective revolt – albeit philosophical – against the industrial revolution.

It was, in essence, an appeal to restore the high quality, beauty and pride associated with good craftsmanship which had been all but decimated by the loud, rapid and air-polluting belch of the sudden Goliath factory sector.

Although the movement sadly declined shortly after 1900, ...