High rise living is catching on, both with downsizers and young city buyers. Orna Mulcahy, Property Editor, writes about two penthouses on the market
Views, light, space, peace, and being able to see the sky, these are some of the things that come as standard when you buy a penthouse. That and not having to mow the grass.
Once the preserve of playboys and reclusive millionaires, rooftop apartments are now being snapped up by wealthy empty nesters planning to swap their family home and garden for luxury apartments on the top floor.
Developers are responding by providing large penthouse units in suburban schemes, with living spaces big enough to take the family furniture and outdoor terraces that look great and don't need a lot of maintenance.
One such apartment is a three-bedroom penthouse at Bushy Park House overlooking Bushy Park in Terenure. Larger than the average four-bedroom house at 144sq m (1,550sq ft), the fifth floor penthouse has a superb wraparound balcony that can be accessed from every room.
Hooke & MacDonald is seeking offers in the region of €1.5 million, and includes the contents.
Bushy Park House is a scheme of upscale apartments in the grounds of a grand 18th century house which still stands.
The apartments were snapped up from plans three years ago, most of them to owner occupiers. However, the developers held on to this penthouse, releasing it for sale only this week
The apartment has terrific views over the surrounding neighbourhood, across the park, and over Bushy Park House itself. Gardening on this rooftop is confined to pruning the box walk, a series of mature box balls and cubes set in architectural pots designed by Formality.
Selling agent Renagh MacDonald of Hooke & MacDonald says that the main market for penthouses is with people trading down from large family homes. "They don't want to have to maintain a big house and garden any more, they have a lot of equity in their home, and they may also have a holiday home elsewhere so what they are looking for is a low maintenance base that doesn't compromise on space.
"There are plenty of those kinds of buyers around at the moment."
At the other end of the price scale, a smart two-bedroom penthouse in Kilmainham is aimed firmly at younger buyers with its bright and breezy interior, and a roof terrace that is big enough for a party.
On the fifth floor of a development called Metropolitan on Inchicore Road, apartment 57 is on the market through Sherry FitzGerald at €425,000. It has 86sq m (930sq ft) of living space inside, and almost the same again outdoors in a terrace that wraps around it on three sides.
