Three-bedroom townhouses and large five-bedroom houses in the fashionable Carrickmines Wood development on the fringes of Foxrock, Co Dublin, are going on sale tomorrow, priced from £329,000 (€417,740) and £850,000 (€1,079,280).
This is Park Development's most notable scheme to date; it is now almost finished and looking particularly verdant. Hamilton Osborne King is to staff the showhouse through the bank holiday weekend, including Monday.
The two house types in this phase of the development differ in style from the 16 £1 million (€1.27m) houses at the entrance to the estate, launched last May with a fanfare of publicity and now occupied. The latest homes are just as lavishly finished and the townhouses in particular should attract a good deal of interest.
Oak Junckers flooring, solid oak staircases and Siematic kitchens with a full range of electrical equipment are among the standard features which will undoubtedly impress.
Most interest should centre on the 20 three-bedroom townhouses costing from £329,000 (€417,740). At 1,200 sq ft, these are larger than some four-bed houses on new developments and most have long gardens. According to Ronan O'Driscoll of HOK, buyers will be either mature house-owners looking for more easily-managed accommodation or couples with one or two children attracted to the quality of the surroundings.
One of the two rows of townhouses directly faces evergreen trees on the perimeter of Cabinteely Park - a view that is unlikely to change over the years. The other cul-de-sac, while not so favourably orientated, has the benefit of larger gardens.
Exteriors are an assortment of three-quarters brick or painted render, with box bay sittingroom windows and a quirky porthole window off the front hall. Expensive Spanish quarried slates are used on the roof, a small feature which emphasises the overall quality of this scheme.
Inside, white stone floors are laid in hall and kitchen areas. There is a guest lavatory and separate storage cupboard off the hall.
A nicely-proportioned sittingroom has a tall box bay window and stone fireplace fitted with a gas coal-effect fire. Double oak and glass doors lead to the kitchen/ dining area which, for a townhouse, is quite spectacular. The range of Siematic units are to the same specifications as the most expensive house on the site, wall and floor tiling is included and all the Neff integrated appliances are standard.
Upstairs are three bedrooms and the family bathroom. The main bedroom, which comes with an en suite shower room, has a small sit-out balcony off it. Back gardens are landscaped, with a decked terrace and a timber shed.
Four five-bedroom detached houses on a much grander scale have over 3,000 sq ft of floor space. These are priced from £850,000 (€1,079,280) and face the entrance to the development across the planted pond area. Like the "millionaire" houses across the way, these have a palatial interior, with an airy, full-height entrance hall rising to a gallery landing.
The flow of accommodation is good for entertaining, with a large kitchen and breakfast/dining area leading to a diningroom and a large sittingroom.
As with the smaller houses, specification is impressive. The Siematic kitchen is fully fitted and there is a toilet off the utility area. Attractive limestone flags and Junckers oak flooring is laid throughout the ground floor and a specially-designed stone fireplace has a gas coal-effect fire. French windows open from the diningroom to a decked terrace and good-sized landscaped garden.
Landscaping by Brady Shipman Martin has high priority on this scheme and gardens have raised brick flower beds and ready-planted trellis on perimeter walls.
Three of the five bedrooms are en suite and there is a large balcony off the landing that catches the evening sun. The main bedroom includes a full en suite bathroom and walk-in dressingroom. Details to look out for are Junckers oak tops on bathroom vanity units and a funnel bathroom window cleverly disguised as a light. All the windows on this scheme are solid pine.
Management of the grounds will cost approximately £500 (€635) per annum for each unit. Park Developments' previous housing schemes include Lambourne Wood and The Park in Cabinteely, and more recently, St Anne's in Milltown.
Still for sale from earlier phases in Cabinteely are two apartments with two bedrooms at £295,000 (€374,570), one two-bedroom duplex apartment at £320,000 (€406,320) and one four-bedroom detached house at £695,000 (€882,470).
