The first phase of a Co Meath development of 312 three-bedroom and four-bedroom semi-detached and detached houses aimed at first-time buyers comes on the market today at prices from £99,950.
Navan agency Raymond Potterton is handling sales. The developer of the 50 acre site is Gem Construction Ltd, whose previous work includes Clonfadda in Blackrock, Co Dublin, and Beggar's Bush at Haddington Road, Dublin 4. Ninety-three houses are being sold in this phase - 53 three-bedroom and 40 four-bedroom houses. There is an unusually large selection of house types to choose from and no less than eleven showhouses will be on view, six of them furnished.
Most of the first phase will be ready for occupation by December next, with the remaining few in January of next year. When the entire scheme is completed in two years there will be 312 houses at Johnstown Wood. An adjoining 25 acre site is held by a separate developer and will probably be built on at a later date.
To reach the showhouses, turn right for Johnstown immediately before the Boyne Bridge on the outskirts of Navan and then left on to Kentstown Road heading back into the town. When the site is complete, the entrance will be via the presently closed approach road to the IDA office park. The position of the scheme on the Dublin side of Navan will appeal to buyers commuting the 28 miles to the city. Navan is expected to increase its population fivefold and the infrastructure is in place to meet the demand for housing. There is a range of bus services and a busy main Dublin road at present, which will soon be upgraded as far as Dunshaughlin, according to sales agent Eamonn Flynn.
The houses have half brick frontages with dry dash and some have bay windows and gabled roofs. A few house designs have an optional kitchen extension and all have an en suite in the main bedroom. Stylish Le Droff fireplaces and kitchen and bathroom tiling are standard.
Viewers have a wide selection of house styles to choose from, all within a fairly narrow price range.
The smallest houses are 1,000 to 1,070 sq ft three-bedroom semis, costing from £99,950 to £108,000. These have a guest cloakroom off the hall and a good-sized sittingroom with doors to a large kitchen/diningroom. Upstairs, there are two double bedrooms and one single with the main bedroom en suite, and a family bathroom. An optional extended kitchen is available with this house type and this accounts for the differences in price levels.
A 1,060 to 1,140 sq ft three-bedroom semi from £104,750 to £110,750. This house has an optional conservatory and kitchen extension. The hallway is curved and double doors open to the sittingroom. The diningroom/kitchen can be enlarged with a kitchen extension and this will create a very spacious dining area. The four-bedroom semi of 1,300 sq ft costs £118,000. It has an interconnecting sittingroom and diningroom with doors to a large kitchen and a guest cloakroom off the hall. There are two double and two single bedrooms with the main en suite.
Another four-bedroom semi with a similar layout is slightly larger at 1,350 sq ft and costs from £117,500 to £120,000. A four-bedroom semi-detached house measuring from 1,220 sq ft to 1,310 sq ft is priced from £116,750 to £125,000. This has an optional kitchen extension.
There are just three detached houses for sale in this phase. Two 1,070 sq ft three-bedroom houses cost £110,000 and one four-bedroom detached house of 1,310 sq ft costs £131,000. This has a Dutch gabled roof and front porch and includes an optional sunroom.
One of the three-bedroom detached houses is a showhouse.
