Dublin's first development of new homes costing over £1 million go for sale this Saturday and Sunday off Brennanstown Road in Carrickmines. The five-bedroom detached houses are easily the most lavish to have come on the market in recent years. Park Developments are building 16 of the houses which will cost between £900,000 and £1.2 million, depending on the size of the gardens. The houses are hidden behind high walls on a 28-acre site which backs on to a heavily wooded public park. The development also includes 45 smaller high quality four/five-bedroom detached houses which are priced from £540,000 to £625,000. Ronan O'Driscoll of Hamilton Osborne King will be handling sales. In June, 72 two and three bedroom apartments and penthouses on the same Carrickmines Wood site will be offered for sale.
The 16 most expensive houses are particularly spacious, with average floor areas around 3,600 sq ft. Eight of the them will cost between £900,000 and £1 million and the others will range from £1 million to £1.2 million. Two showhouses with different layouts will be open to the public. They have exceptional qualities for new houses - elegance and space combined with a superb fit out and outstanding gardens. Buyers in this price bracket would traditionally look for houses in areas like Ballsbridge and Killiney. However, it has become increasingly difficult to find large family homes with good gardens in these locations at that price.
Park has owned the Carrickmines site for over 15 years and, according to managing director Michael Cotter, now is the optimum time to use it for top of the range houses. All the homes have the same finish but garden sizes vary greatly from a quarter to over three-quarters of an acre. All the rear gardens have rows of mature oak trees and high wooden fences which provide immediate maturity and privacy. Both showhouses have four exceptionally fine reception rooms which make them ideal for entertaining. They have particularly handsome double height entrance halls with American oak staircases, solid oak doors and overhead windows to keep the area bright. One of the showhouses has a double height diningroom with steps down to a spacious reception room with a broad bay window. Reception rooms have beautiful wooden floors, attractive fireplaces and picture windows overlooking the gardens. For houses at the top end of the market, it is not surprising that Park Developments have gone to exceptional lengths to provide one of the best kitchens available. The mainly free standing SieMatic kitchen units come with an integrated range of Neff electrical and gas appliances as standard fittings.
Upstairs is equally impressive in both house types with beautifully fitted bathrooms and wardrobes. One of the houses has four bathrooms, the other has five. One of them also has a particularly large landing which doubles as a library. The most expensive houses have double garages, either integrated or detached. The four/five bedroom detached homes have less floor space (2,300 sq ft) and smaller gardens but an equally high standard of fit out. They have three great reception rooms and large kitchens with the same range of units and electrical and gas appliances as in the bigger houses. They also have integrated garages which can be converted into a reception room.
There are significant stamp duty savings in buying a new house in Carrickmines Wood as opposed to a second-hand house for the same price. A second-hand house costing £1 million incurs stamp duty of £90,000 whereas buyers of the new homes will only have to pay stamp duty on the cost of the site. In this case the duty is likely to be £20,000.
