Rooms at the top with great views

Two well-located Dublin penthouses, one old and one new, may tempt empty-nesters to spread their wings

Wealthy buyers looking to invest in a base in the capital have their choice of two very different penthouse apartments being launched on the market today.

A two-bedroom apartment on the top floor of Dunloe Hall on Merrion Street has a period feel, an open fireplace and a ringside view of the comings and goings at Government Buildings across the road. It's for sale through Lisney asking €2 million.

In Donnybrook, a large penthouse apartment in Bloomfield - an upmarket scheme built on the site of the former Bloomfield hospital - is for sale through Sherrry FitzGerald New Homes at €3.25 million. The 250sq m (2,680sq ft) apartment is in shell condition so that buyers can carve up the space as they wish, and decorate it to their own taste.

Number 19 Dunloe Hall is a comfortable apartment with 102sq m (1,100sq ft) at the top of a converted Georgian house. While it doesn't have the high ceilings of the lower floors it has the all important view into Government Buildings through three sash windows in the spacious livingroom.

Period colours and furnishing throughout will appeal to older buyers who want an apartment that feels like a house. There are two good-sized bedrooms, two bathrooms and an eat-in kitchen. The price includes one underground parking space and the annual service charge is €3,900. Last year Lisney sold a larger apartment on the first floor of Dunloe Hall for a record €4.2 million.

The Bloomfield penthouse is on the fifth floor with views over the well-kept communal gardens. One of the big attractions of this unit is its large balcony which at 97sq m (1,044sq ft) is bigger than most three-bed apartments.

Designed by O'Mahony Pike Architects, the penthouse is full of light with floor-to-ceiling windows throughout. The layout is for three en suite bedrooms and a vast livingroom, but buyers can change the layout and determine the finishes, says selling agent Eoin O'Neill who expects interest from empty-nesters looking for a luxurious lock-up-and-leave home in Dublin 4.