Glenageary homes with design flair from €435k

Google Maps is a developer’s best friend, say Matt Lyster, only half laughing, for he won’t say just how many hours he spends scouring the suburbs of south Co Dublin for infill sites with potential. Lyster worked on projects in London including the Savoy Hotel through another company, Ridgeway Consulting, but, as one half of boutique housebuilder Coliemore Homes, a relative newcomer, the firm has already constructed several infill sites including Harford Green in Baldoyle and Ardmore Green in Dún Laoghaire.

Auburn Green, off Auburn Road in Glenageary, wasn’t found by Google but rather the old-fashioned way, through an estate agent. The acre site of mature gardens, listed as being to the rear of 214 to 216 Rochestown Avenue, came to market 12 months ago with full planning permission for 10 terraced houses and three apartments.

The three-storey houses are being sold as three-beds with an additional study that many may use as a kids’ room or playroom.

The properties, which measure 144sq m (1,550sq ft), have 2.7m ceiling heights on all three levels and brick fronts and sides, featuring a warm terracotta colour supplied by Cavan-based Kingscourt.

High street giants

Patricia Duignan, Lyster’s wife, is responsible for the interiors through her firm Little Grey Consulting. She’s a former fashion designer who worked with high street giants including M&S and Debenhams when the couple lived in London, before going back to college to study design when they moved to Qatar. Designing for the Qatar market is the opposite of the requirements here, she says. In Ireland you have to maximise light, create a good sense of space and flow and offer lots of storage, she says.

And the homes are light-filled. It streams through the large alu-clad Nordan windows and through the flat roof light in the entrance hall.

Duignan’s use of colour on feature walls, in the furnishings and in her choice of smart framed artworks, makes the residence feel really well established. Underfoot there is underfloor heating at hall level.

The sanitaryware in all the bathrooms is by Porcelanosa and the guest WC has a cool monochrome mood

There is some grey, in the kitchen, but it is a much darker anthracite shade with contrasting marble-look stone worktops and splashbacks. The kitchen overlooks the southwest-facing patio and garden; if the intense shade is too dramatic there is a second option, a softer grey, visible on the units in the utility room that buyers can opt for. The appliances package includes appliances by Siemens.

The master bedroom is to the front of the first floor and has a smart shower ensuite. The second double on this level is a large room with twin windows framing fine views of the mountains.

Large-format rooflight

On the second floor is another double, also ensuite, with a bright room on the other side of the landing that is lit by a large-format rooflight, supplied by Keylite. Listed as a study under building regulations, it would make a gorgeous kids’ room or playroom.

The sanitaryware in all the bathrooms is by Porcelanosa and the guest WC has a cool monochrome mood, with geometric patterned tiles used on the floor and on one of the walls, and matt black hardware.

Prices for the houses, which include mid- and end-of-terrace units, will range from €715,000 to €740,000 through agents Sherry FitzGerald. In addition to the terrace there is one five-bedroom unit also for sale where an early bird buyer can ask for flexibility on its layout. It measures 205sq m (2,206sq ft) and is asking €995,000.

The estate will also comprise three two-bed apartments, each of about 90sq m (968sq ft). The ground floor unit, which has its own entrance, boasts a garden the same size as the houses’ and may appeal to a home-hunter trading down. It is asking €435,000. There other two apartments share an entrance. The top-floor unit, a walk-up, costs €450,000.

Adjacent to the estate is Johnstown boys’ national school.