Grange Manor, a new development of family homes to be launched on the market in Lucan, Co Dublin, this weekend is a relatively small scheme of 131 houses priced from £123,000, located off a small country road known locally as Hayden's Lane.
The scheme is most likely to appeal to the upper end of the new house market or to families from nearby estates trading up to bigger properties. Three-bedroom semi-detached houses in the Grange Manor scheme have 1,120 sq ft and will cost from £123,000. Four-bedroom semis with 1,320 sq ft will cost from £145,000 while the detached four-beds with 1,340 sq ft will cost from £165,000. The entire development is due for final completion within the next 12 months. The first phase of 38 houses will be available for occupation by the end of this summer.
The recent proposal to reopen the old Lucan railway station, which is close to Grange Manor, could enhance the attractiveness of the development to commuters. This part of Lucan is well served in terms of supermarkets and shops. Frank Kieran and Michael O'Rourke are the developers and their most recent scheme was the popular Pheasants Run development in Clonee. A notable feature of these new houses is their interesting exterior detail. All are built partially of brick and the four-bedroom houses have arched porches reminiscent of 1930s houses. They also have bay windows both in the livingroom and the main bedroom, which makes these rooms seem particularly spacious and more interesting to decorate.
The detached houses come with a feature that harkens back to older building design in that they have a good-sized glazed porch as well as an attractive front door glazed in leaded glass. Another good old fashioned detail that was common in pre-war houses that also features in one of the Grange Manor houses is the downstairs bathroom to the front of the house. In the four-bedroom semis, the guest bathroom is off the hall at the front of the house so it seems like a proper old-fashioned cloakroom. All the house styles have good sized, eat-in kitchens and all kitchens have more than one window which makes them particularly bright. There are three styles of Nolan kitchen in the houses, the nicest being the maple Shaker-style kitchen in the detached four-bedroom unit which comes with the modern detail of stainless steel handles. All four-beds have roomy utility rooms. Access to the garden in all houses is also available through the glazed patio doors in the diningroom, which interconnects with the livingroom.
Unusually, the best bathroom is in the smallest and least expensive house style. The three-bedroom homes have the main bathroom to the front, which might seem strange until you see the extra space that then becomes available. In the three-bed houses, this leaves room for two large double bedrooms and a very large single. The bathrooms in both styles of four beds are disappointing in that they have no wall windows, only very high skylights. Other nice details that are common to all the houses are decorative leaded glass windows in the front door and in the interconnecting doors downstairs, extensive built-in wardrobes in the bedrooms which are designed in a contemporary style, and decorative Victorian style fireplaces.
