An interesting development of four-bedroom and five-bedroom houses in Lucan, Co Dublin, comes on the market today, aimed at buyers moving up to more spacious accommodation. Prices at Larkfield start at £153,000 for a 1,340 sq ft four-bedroom semi-detached house, with the top-of-the-range five-bedroom detached houses from £250,000. Hooke & MacDonald is the selling agent. To get to the site, turn left at the Foxhunter pub, left again at the next roundabout and Larkfield is on Ballyowen Road, directly opposite the park. Builders are the Fitzgibbon Brothers, whose Willsbrook scheme, now sold out, is close to the Larkfield site and is worth a look to get an idea of how the new estate will look when finished.
The first 50 houses are being sold in this initial phase out of a total of 180 in the entire development. Completion is expected in November this year for the first phase and the scheme will be finally finished late next year. These houses are exceptionally well-finished inside and out. Good quality fittings, solid wood doors and kitchen units and clever positioning of windows to allow maximum light gives a good substantial feel. Three different house types are available in this phase. The smallest, a four-bedroom semi-detached is 1,340 sq ft and costs from £153,000 to £156,000, depending on aspect and garden size. The exterior has a two-storey bay to the front of rustic brick. Front doors are solid timber with coloured stained glass panels and there is a tiled porch with wood-panelled soffit. This house has a curved entrance hallway with a guest cloakroom off. There is a large sittingroom with wide "door and a half" entrance doors with bevelled glass panels.
Double doors lead to the diningroom, which has sliding doors to the garden. The adjoining kitchen is a good, long room with a dining area big enough to seat eight to dinner. This could free up the formal diningroom for use as a study or TV den, if required. A tall pine-clad cathedral ceiling with a Velux window adds light to this end of the room. Kitchen units are of solid pine. Upstairs, the main bedroom has a wall of wardrobes, a large en suite shower room and a three-window bay, which would accommodate a dressing table or window seat. There are two more double bedrooms with fitted wardrobes and a small single room with a wardrobe and bookshelves. The main bathroom is also upstairs. There are two different styles of five-bedroom detached houses, both distinctive in interior layout. One is an unusual three-storey house of 1,800 sq ft priced from £220,000 to £230,000. The fifth bedroom is a very spacious top-floor room which would make an ideal study or playroom.
On the ground floor, there is a curved entrance hallway with guest cloakroom. A nice-sized sittingroom is entered from the hall, again by a "door and a half" with bevelled glass panels. This room has an art decostyle beech fireplace and double glass doors to the diningroom.
The kitchen is very large with solid beech units and plenty of room for informal dining. A lofted ceiling with a Velux window lets light to the dining end of the room. Glass doors lead to the garden. There is a utility room off the kitchen with a sink and cupboards.
On the first floor there are four bedrooms, three double and one single. All the bedrooms have fitted wardrobes and the main bedroom is en suite.
The top-of-the-range five bedroom house on this development is very large at 2,000 sq ft and costs from £250,000 to £265,000.
Off the hallway there is a guest cloakroom and useful cloaks cupboard. The sittingrooms and diningrooms are spacious, with a custom-designed beech fireplace and bevelled glass double doors to the sittingroom and bay window.
A good-sized family room off the hallway could double as a study. There is a big, country-style kitchen with oak units and good family dining space. Glass doors lead out to the garden and there is a fitted utility room off. On the top landing, there is a roof light of plain leaded glass.
The main bedroom has Shaker-style wardrobes, a large en suite shower room and a separate dressing room with wardrobes and shelves. The second double bedroom is also en suite and with attractive wardrobes. There is one other small double room and a single. Driveways are cobblelocked and front gardens landscaped. The back gardens are walled and levelled.
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