New homes: Super-green seaside style in Greystones

A dozen or so three-storey four-bed semi-detached houses costing from €455,000 go on sale from plans this weekend in Greystones, Co Wicklow. This is the second phase of SeaGreen, a development launched just over two months ago: the first 25 three-bed and five-bed semi-detached homes that went on sale then – costing from € 395,000 for three-beds to € 535,000 for five-beds – have now been sold, according to selling agent Sherry FitzGerald New Homes.

The people who bought them should be able to move into SeaGreen between July and December. The homes launched this weekend should be ready for occupation by early 2017. A total of 180 homes – a mix of three, four and five-bed semis, some bungalows and some detached houses – are to be built on the elevated 24.5-acre site, which will have 3.3 acres of green space. Many will have sea views, says Wood, as the site slopes steeply down a hill.

The 136sq m (1,464sq ft) four-bedroom semis are very similar in design to the houses launched in March; like the five-bedroom house, they are three-storey and have a “Velux Cabrio” window that converts into a small balcony in the top floor room. The balcony in the showhouse has a view over farmland up to Coolagad Hill behind the site.

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There is an emphasis on energy efficiency in the design: roofs have solar panels, timber tilt-and-turn windows are triple glazed, the homes are well insulated and have an A2 BER rating.

Copper canopies

The main difference between the homes sold in the first phase and the four-bed semis now being launched are size and cost: the three-bed semis are 108-109sq m (1,160- 1,176sq ft), the five-beds, 171sq m (1,845sq ft).

As well as the energy saving features, utility rooms off kitchens, wall-mounted electric fires and built-in wardrobes in bedrooms come as standard. Traditional in style, the houses have copper canopies over the front. The interior of the four- bedroom showhouse has a kitchen/breakfastroom with polished quartz countertops; kitchen appliances are included as standard. There is an en suite shower room in the main bedroom.

Outside, there are small back gardens with a patio, and space to park in a small cobblelocked driveway.

The development is in Blacklion on the edge of Greystones, looking down over the town. It is in walking distance of two national schools (an Educate Together and a Gaelscoil) and a new secondary school. It's a 15-minute walk from Greystones Dart station, according to SeaGreen developer, local builder Jim Wood.