{TEXT} Cove Terrace 2000 - a row of three new houses close to the Forty Foot at Sandycove Avenue East, Sandycove, Co Dublin - goes on the market this week after some fourteen14 months in the building under construction.
Stylish, relatively maintenance-free and state-of-the art when it comes to in terms of conveniences, kitchen facilities, security and power-point availability, the Cove Terrace houses are is the dream child of Greg and Lucienne Wheeler, owners of nearby 18th-century Cove House.
The houses were built by the Wheelers' own company, Covemount Homes Ltd, on what was once part of the gardens around Cove House. The Folly was sacrificed to become an integral part of the largest of the three. The architects were Fitzgerald Finlay-Mulligan.
All three have sea views. The view from what was the Earl of Carysfort's folly and is now part of the kitchen/diningroom in the larger house takes in a particularly fine and sweep of the bay and Howth Head. Two of the houses on Cove Terrace have three bedrooms and some1,730 sq ft of floorspace. The third, a has four-bedrooms and, covers an approximate 2,300 sq ft.
They homes go on the market today (Thursday 21st.) and are being sold by through Hamilton Osborne King, which is quoting £950,000 (1.2m) for the largest house, which is at one end of the terrace, £875,000 (1.11m) for the other end house and £825,000 (1.05m) for the mid-terrace house.
Features common to all three include under-floor gas-fired heating, maple flooring in living rooms, hallways and landings; limestone-style ceramic flooring in the kitchens as well as in part of the hallways and livingrooms, ground-floor doors in maple with sand-blasted glass, and under-stair storage and attic storage (with 140 sq ft of the latter).
There is also a pelmet and wall lighting in the livingrooms, jacuzzis, a "phone watch" alarm system, high granite walls and cast-iron railings and gates to the front, and off-street parking and individually landscaped patio-gardens to the rear.
These are bright houses with notably high ceilings and a great deal of glass in windows, doors and ceilings. A design objective was to make them as maintenance-free as possible - and this extends to having gas and electric points in the patio-gardens to facilitate hoover-vacuuming, an electric awning and barbecuing. The two smaller houses have kitchen/diningrooms to the front, large livingrooms to the rear, guest toilets, three bedrooms with one en suite, a family bathroom and (as in the Scandinavian style) a first floor utility/boiler room. The larger house has a bigger kitchen/diningroom(it projects beyond the line of the other two), livingroom, guest toilet and store room. Two of its four bedrooms are en suite, and there is a family bathroom and utility room.
The kitchens in the smaller houses are similar but with different finishes. Square-shaped, high-ceilinged rooms, they have bay windows and facilities which include a range of Siematic kitchen units, polished granite worktops and a large, integrated Miele fridge-freezer unit. The hallways here are bright and expansive with guest toilets off, broom cupboards under the stairs and steps down to the livingrooms. The 11.5ft-high livingrooms open out, in a continuum created by an via an outer wall which is- almost entirely of glass - to the high-walled patio-garden. The livingroom fireplaces, of sandstone, are more than five feet high and made of sandstone and have a custom designed log-effect gas fire. The patio-gardens have small water features and are landscaped with slate, quartz and shrubs.
The main bedrooms have walk-in dressing rooms, bay windows and en suite bathrooms with steam room, shower, bidet, toilet and wash-hand basin. The second and third bedrooms have built-in wardrobes and Velux windows in sloping ceilings. There is attic access from the landing. The main bathrooms have jacuzzi/baths and wash-hand basin units with maple surrounds.
The kitchen/diningroom in the larger house incorporates the 18th-century folly, as evidenced in an exposed, granite wall. There are three attractive porthole windows high in the wall over the kitchen working area. Worktops here are in stainless steel and in polished granite on an island unit. The livingroom is larger but similar to those in the smaller houses, as is the patio-garden.
The main bedroom has good views of the bay to Howth and an en suite with steam room and shower as well as a walk-in dressing room. The second bedroom is also en suite and has Velux windows and an en suite shower. The third and fourth bedrooms have built-in wardrobes while the family bathroom has a bath/jacuzzi, wash hand basin and lavatory.
