Family friendly Belmayne has designer touch

Co Dublin: from €425,000Large houses and play areas will be a draw for families in this scheme whose showhouse and gardens got the designer treatment, writes Bernice Harrison

The smart showhouse designed by celebrity interior designer Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen with gardens by Dermot Gavin have already drawn the crowds into Belmayne, a major housing development on Malahide Road, but it's the availability of large family houses in the new estate that continues to be its main attraction for buyers.

This is phase two of what is going to be a very large scheme - a new suburb really - of 2,650 units and in all there are 12 different styles with 50 houses being released for sale this week through Hooke & MacDonald.

The three-bedroom houses are from €425,000 while the four-beds range from €515,000. All houses are terraced and all have private gardens or patios. The houses in this phase will be ready for occupation by the end of the summer.

Belmayne is off the much improved Malahide Road in north Co Dublin, just north of Clare Hall - and when it is finished in around six years time it will cover 95 acres.

By that time, Belmayne will have a library, two schools, a town centre, its own child-friendly park as well as the usual mix of shops, bars, a crèche and a medical centre.

Over 70 per cent of the 2,650 units will be houses - so in time the area should be populated with growing families.

The first phase of 350 houses sold last year - mostly to first-time buyers and those attracted by the relatively short commute of just over five miles into the city.

All houses have good sized eat-in kitchens. There are four kitchen styles to chose from, as well as six paint colours.

Integrated electrical appliances, to include oven/hob, washer/dryer, fridge freezer and dishwasher are included.

Bedrooms have built-in wardrobes and all houses have at least one en suite as well as a downstairs toilet.

The three bedroom houses range from 97-145sq m (1,045-1,565sq ft) and cost from €425,000. The most attractive style is the three-storey version with separate study at €470,000. In this design, the main, en suite bedroom is at the top of the house beside the study.

The four bedroom houses (133-188sq m (1,435-2,020sq ft) are from €515,000 and the showhouse - the larger of the designs at €600,000 - is the one designed by Llewelyn-Bowen and it really is very stylish and way beyond the ordinary. Indeed some buyers of the first phase have been so taken with his curved walls in the bedrooms that they've had them installed in their houses.

An attractive feature of Belmayne is the green spaces - there are plenty on the site as well as a very smart looking park, designed by Brady Shipman Martin landscape architects.

The nearby 53 acre Father Collins Park is being completely redeveloped as part of the ambitious plans for the whole area. The developer is Stanley Holdings; LM Developments is the main contractors and the architects are McCrossan O'Rourke Manning.

Hooke & MacDonald will be opening showhouses at Belmayne this week on Thursday and Friday 12-3pm, Saturday and Sunday 2-4.30pm.