Rising potential in Mount Merrion development hotspot

A well-presented bungalow with great potential is listed for sale at €795,000 on Savills website, but could sell for a good bit more given its popular location. Following two viewings, the Savills agent says there is already a bid of €870,000 for 5 Cherrygarth, Mount Merrion, Co Dublin, and she estimates buyers could spend another €100,000 upgrading the property.

It's worth noting that a new housing development is to be built directly behind the property, on a site formerly owned by Oatlands College in Stillorgan.

The 131sq m (1,408sq ft) detached four-bed, being sold by a receiver, has been staged for sale by The Interiors Project and is decorated in neutral shades of grey and white.

Side entrance

A side entrance opens into an L-shaped hall, off which is a bright livingroom/diningroom the width of the house, with two windows overlooking the front garden. Frosted glass double doors open into a kitchen fitted out just a few years ago with cream units and an island with a stainless steel sink. It has a window in a deep atrium and, like the hall, a laminate wood floor.

Extension

The kitchen opens down a step into an extension at the side of the house described as a utility area in the brochure: the original garage was converted into a room at the front of the house, with a storeroom plumbed for a washing machine and a downstairs bathroom – with an unusually tiny bath – in the passageway behind.

There are four bedrooms, two doubles and two singles, at the back of the house as well as a partly tiled family bathroom. The main bedroom is bright, with a large window onto the back garden which is 95ft wide by 33ft long.

New owners might seek permission to extend into the attic, the agent suggests.

There are plans for two major housing developments – one approved, one pending – nearly adjacent to 5 Cherrygarth. Number 2 Cherrygarth, three houses away, is due to be demolished to create access to Balark Investments’ development of 63 homes – a mix of apartments, duplexes and houses – on a site behind Oatlands College, which runs behind the houses on Cherrygarth. Despite vigorous local objections, An Bord Pleanála approved the plan in April 2017.

In October 2017, developer David Doyle, son of the late hotelier PV Doyle, was refused permission, now under appeal, to build 47 homes – 33 apartments and 14 houses – on the 1.39-hectare grounds of Thornhill House, his late parents' home.  Thornhill, a protected structure, is directly across the road from number 5 Cherrygarth.