BALBRIGGAN: FROM €250,000:BUYERS looking for a starter home who don't want a typical boxy apartment or an identikit estate house should have a look at a mini-scheme going on the market in Balbriggan, Co Dublin today
One of the most unusual new homes schemes coming on the market this week is a development of six houses carved out of an old long thatched house.
Bremore Lodge, on Hamlet Lane is a 300-year-old thatched cottage that locals believe is the longest house of its kind in Ireland.
It was owned for many years by the Hamlet family, but during the 1980s the house was used as a meeting place for the Balbriggan Cycle Club.
After careful restoration it now offers a series of small, comfortable houses designed in a country tradition with vaulted ceilings, oak or ash flooring, and working sash windows.
Modern comforts include a full range of kitchen appliances, gas-fired central heating and wiring for surround sound. A new thatched roof shelters the main long house, which is listed for preservation.
Of the six units four are one bedroom house with 44-55sq m (480-590sq ft) of living space. These are priced at €250,000 each. The selling agents are Hooke MacDonald, where Gerard Carr is handling enquiries.
There are two larger two-bedroom houses with 84-89sq m (900-950sq ft) of living space.
The communal grounds have been carefully landscaped to include the original stone walls and gateway for the property, while the courtyard has retained its old water pump and well.
Mature trees have also been kept on the site, lending an old world feel to the scheme.
Bremore Lodge, Hamlet Lane, Balbriggan, Co Dublin
Unusual development of six new one and two-bedroom homes carved out of a 300-year-old thatched cottage.
Agent:Hooke MacDonald