Competitive prices a commute from capital

Celbridge: from €290,000: A mix of high quality homes goes on sale this weekend in Celbridge and are likely to sell quickly writes Jack Fagan, Property Editor

A new development of 115 high quality homes on the edge of Celbridge, Co Kildare, is likely to sell quickly when it is launched for the first time this weekend. Three-bed terraced houses start at €290,000, three-bed semis are priced from €310,000, while four bedroom semis will be available from €355,000. Sherry FitzGerald New Homes will be staffing show houses at Rockbridge on the Ardclough Road on Saturday and Sunday.

The new homes are alongside an earlier scheme completed a few years ago, which is already looking settled and prosperous.

Dublin's largest house builders, Menolly Homes, are well advanced on building Rockbridge which will appeal both to first-time buyers and families trading up to larger homes. Even before the sales campaign gets under way, the finishing touches are being put to a landscaped open space that will form the centrepiece of the scheme.

Menolly has established a reputation for settling for smaller margins than most builders in order to maximise sales. The homes already completed in Rockbridge seem exceptionally good value given that all the three-bed configurations have floor areas of 106.8 sq m (1,150 sq ft) and the fact that Menolly have spared nothing to to make the houses as comfortable and impressive as possible. The attention to detail is obvious.

For those trading up, the four-bed semis have oodles of space (131 sq m or 1,410 sq ft) and are somewhat below the market average at a price of €355,000.

There is a good sized hall with a guest toilet inside the entrance door and a separate space tucked away under the stairs which is plumbed for a washing machine.

The living room at the front of the house is bright and cheerful with an attractive fireplace that can either be used for a conventional or a gas fire .

The combined dining room and kitchen at the rear extends the full width of the house and is likely to prove a strong selling point. Wall and floor units, allowing for integrated electrical appliances, are quite smart and there is also a chrome cooker hood and granite worktop. The rear end of the room is actually a sloping sun room with a tongue-and-grooved ceiling, two Velux lights and a French door leading out into the garden.

Upstairs, the accommodation is equally impressive with an unusually large landing (kept bright by a sky tube light) leading into three doubles and one single bedroom. Both the en-suite off the master bedroom and the main bathroom have modern fittings and ample tiling. All bedrooms come with attractive wardrobes supplied by Cawleys of Dublin.

The three-bed mid-terrace, end-terrace and semis have a broadly similar layout and finish and will appeal to first-time buyers who want a house rather than an apartment. The semi has a toilet inside the door and a handy room under the stairs for the washing machine. There is also a separate living room to the front with a comfortable ambiance.

The kitchen/dining room to the rear works well and has oak wall and floor units and an extractor hood.

As with the other houses, Menolly have fitted top class sanitary ware and tiling in the en-suites and the bathrooms. The three bed homes have two doubles and one single, all of them with wardrobes and a dressing table. All homes have gas central heating.

Although Celbridge is only 12 miles from the city, it has the country village atmosphere of somewhere much further out. It is one of the most attractive towns within easy commuting distance of Dublin and has excellent shopping, restaurants, pubs and leisure facilities.