A-rated homes in Knocklyon from €240,000

Through his company Winterbrook, Francis Rhatigan is releasing the final phase of new homes at Dalriada, a development of 154 properties overlooking the Hellfire Club and the gorse clad foothills of the Dublin mountains at Knocklyon, just beyond the M50 limits.

Construction started in 2006 under another company name, Ellier Developments. By 2009 prices had been reduced; a two-bed that had previously been asking €395,000 had fallen 40 per cent to €235,000, a three-bed duplex that had been asking €450,000 fell to €297,000.

Back then Rhatigan was one of the first developers to admit to losing money. But 94 of the 154 homes have been occupied. The remaining 60 are now being developed, with 25 being released for sale this weekend.

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“We had dark days in the 1980s, the 1990s and the end of the noughties but I live my entire life in the future,” says the man who through another company, Ellier Investments, became Facebook’s landlord with his cutstone Boland’s grain mill at the Grand Canal basin.

He welcomes the fact that prices appear to be plateauing. To meet the new regulations building costs have increased by about 15-20 per cent and the house hunter remains very price sensitive.

In this phase two-bed apartments, about 71 sq m (764 sq ft) start from €240,000 and three-bed duplexes, measuring about 104 sq m (1,114 sq ft) start from €330,000 – marginally above the 2009 prices.

There are also three- and four-bed townhouses. The former range from 102 to 123 sq m (1,098-1,324sq ft) in size and prices start from €360,000. Prices for the four-bedroom townhouses, which measure about 124 sq m (1,335 sq ft) start from €400,000.

So what is different this time round? The houses are A-rated and the high spec includes condensing boilers, mechanical heat recovery ventilation, high performance uPVC windows and photovoltaic solar panels.

Rhatigan has also drafted his daughter Anne-Marie Drohan in as marketing manager and he credits her with bringing a feminine feel to the decor.

Two different design firms have decorated the show units. There’s a classic look by Venture Design, while Think Contemporary’s mood has a more modern feel.

There are seven different styles of home on offer. Each comes with the bathrooms fully fitted with Villeroy & Boch sanitary ware and with heated towel rails, smart kitchens by Kitchen Elegance and fitted with Zanussi appliances, while the Shaker-style wardrobes were installed by Cawley’s. Each unit comes with two car non-designated parking spaces.

Work has already started on the remaining 35 properties and the site will be fully finished by next spring, Rhatigan says.

The development is across the road from Hunterswood, another estate built by Rhatigan through Ellier Developments.

Woodstown Shopping Centre is a few minutes walk away and Chuckleberries creche is next door.

With about 100 people working on site, the return of the high vis brigade has surely been a boon for the local Spar. But times have changed, Rhatigan says. “They all bring in their lunch now. Breakfast roll man has been relegated to the pages of history.”