Blackrock: An upmarket development of townhouses off Grove Avenue in Blackrock has prices starting at €725,000, reports Kate McMorrow

With the dire shortage of new homes along Dublin's south coastline, the latest phase at Linden, off Grove Avenue, Blackrock, is likely to be well-received. Hamilton Osborne King is the selling agent.

Capel Developments is launching a courtyard of substantial four-bedroom townhouses at Linden this week, with a showhouse going on view at noon today. This is a well-thought-out development, with a superb finish and good landscaping, so prices starting at €725,000 are aimed at buyers already on the property ladder.

Given the upmarket location, there will be plenty of interest in these three and four-bedroom houses, which have an exceptional standard of finish. Almost completed and with earlier phases in occupation, Linden is positioned in a former convent off Grove Avenue, convenient to Blackrock College, UCD and St Vincent's Hospital.

The 21 three-storey houses are grouped in a private gated courtyard within the development. Part-brick with timber-framed bay windows, they are grouped cosily around a central planted area, which is shaded by a long pergola.

The entire courtyard is almost completed and buyers will be able to move in before Christmas this year. Copper porch and roof canopies are beginning to turn a fashionable green colour and the landscaping is already established.

With the exception of one three-bedroom unit, four-bedroom houses of 142 sq m (1,525 sq ft) are in the majority. The houses open into a fairly narrow hallway, off which a smart cherrywood kitchen/diningroom looks out on the front courtyard. Buff mosaic wall tiles and pink-shaded ceramic floor tiling are standard items.

A downstairs toilet is floor and wall-tiled in ivory and charcoal. Next door is a utilityroom similarly tiled and fitted out. The hall opens out to a wide stairwell, with the sittingroom beyond this at the back of the house.

This is a large well-proportioned room by modern standards, with a classic oak veneer and slate fireplace, fitted with a flame-effect fire. Two sets of French doors open to a broad decked terrace and the back garden. Double Velux windows set into the ceiling at the garden end make this room particularly bright.

Worth a mention, the staircase matches the classic tenor of the house, with its solid teak newel post and bannister rail. Two double bedrooms and one single room are off the first floor landing. All three have elegant ivory panelled wardrobes and there is an en suite shower off the largest room. The family bathroom is dressed, like the en suites and downstairs toilet, in white, with cream and grey tiling.

A double bedroom suite at the top of the house will end up either as a principle bedroom or a teenager's den.

A large double bedroom is at one side of the landing, with a walk-in dressingroom and large en suite shower room across the way.

Back gardens vary in size. All are town-sized, with wide decked terraces and fully-planted borders. Garden sheds are provided with some of the larger plots.

The developer has stipulated that trees be planted at the end of those gardens which are overlooked. Others are backed by a wall which is imaginatively clad in railway sleepers.

One 189 sq m (2,035 sq ft) turreted house at the entrance to Linden Mews will probably be snapped up on the first viewing day. The layout is similar to the regular four-bedroom houses, with the addition of a gardenroom, a lobbyroom and a quaint circular turret room upstairs with a variety of possible uses - perhaps a study or therapy area. While not yet decided, the price for this house will be around the €800,000 mark.

Also not yet decided is the price of one three-bedroom townhouse of 136 sq m (1,464 sq ft), expected to be around €745,000. Almost as spacious as the four-bedroom units, this house has a wide entrance hall, with a sittingroom off to the left. Across the hall is a large open-plan kitchen/diningroom with granite-topped cherrywood units and doors to the garden. The latter is wider than most and there is an extra-large timber deck.

Two parking spaces are reserved in front of each house. Annual management charges are expected to be around €1,200 and communal enclosed bin storage is provided at the entrance to the mews. Two full-time caretakers are on hand in the development to take care of everyday maintenance and garden care.

Viewing is today and Friday from noon to 2 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.