Garden level apartment in upscale Rathgar scheme for €625k

A ground-floor apartment for sale in the Marianella development in Rathgar has two double bedrooms, a large open-plan kitchen/living/dining room, separate utility room, and two separate patios – “and we’ve taken extremely good care of it,” says the owner.

He and his wife bought number 15 Orwell Gate when the Cairn Homes development on the grounds of Marianella, a former Redemptorist monastery, was launched in 2017. The 104sq m (1,120sq ft) apartment is now for sale through Knight Frank for €625,000. The development includes a concierge, residents' gym, sauna, private cinema and meeting rooms; the apartment has an annual service charge of €3,000.

People downsizing from large houses nearby made up roughly half the buyers when the development was launched, but the owners of number 15 are a young couple moving on as their family grows. In fact, there are quite a few young families in Marianella says the owner and a playground in the landscaped grounds.

Prices in the Dublin 6 development are rising: the owners of number 15 paid €510,000 for the 104sq m (1,120sq ft) apartment in December 2017. (The Property Price Register shows €449,338, but that figure is exclusive of VAT.) A smaller two-bed in a middle block in the development sold recently for €627,000.

The apartment is painted in neutral pale greys and floored throughout with an engineered oak floor; it also has zoned underfloor heating. The kitchen in the open-plan kitchen/living/dining area has pale grey units, Miele appliances and a breakfast bar separating it from the rest of the space. A wall of floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors opens on to a patio.

The main bedroom has floor-to-ceiling glass doors opening on to another patio and a dressing room opening into a smart fully-tiled en suite bathroom. Both bedrooms have fitted wardrobes. There is a separate family shower room and a utility room with storage space.

Two-bed apartments here rent for about €2,200 a month, so the unit could also have investor appeal.

Social tenants in some 19 apartments of the 210 in Marianella complained recently that they are not allowed to use the development’s residents’ club facilities. The approved housing body, Fold Housing, which manages the social housing apartments, says it does not pay for the concierge service.