A small scheme of smartly appointed new A2 Ber-rated builds within an established estate on the Deansgrange Road.
Address: St Fintan's Villas, 47 St Fintan's Villas, Blackrock, Co. Dublin
Asking price: From €725,000 to €1.195 million
Agent: Sherry FitzGerald
Developers see space differently. It is their job to be on the constant lookout for ways to add value.
There are plenty of colourful stories of some using drones over neighbourhoods to get a bird’s eye view of potential properties with large gardens.
But in real life, it's often more prosaic, a combination of seeing potential, hard work and putting the right team together to realise it.
Built in the 1930s. St. Fintan’s Villas is an estate constructed with large gardens so that its occupants could grow their own produce and be self-sufficient, explains developer Daniel Coyne of Mendell Construction.
Set in a horseshoe shape, its houses are located just off the Deansgrange Road in Blackrock.
You can see one-off houses built to the side of existing homes and even some to the rear.
But none are as exemplary as the boutique development of three new builds, constructed on the site of number 47 by Coyne's firm, which extended to approximately 0.25 acres.
The existing house has also been completely stripped back to its original four walls and, in effect, a new home constructed within its shell.
The three new homes, a two-bedroom detached house to the front, and a pair of four-bedroom semis, constructed to the rear, and the original house have all been named after Scottish islands of the Inner Hebrides.
Developed by Mendell Construction to a design by Fishamble Architects and built to very high specifications, they feature Ibstock brick and wet-dash render exteriors with green slate roof finishes and zinc trims.
The windows and external doors are triple-glazed alu-clad designs by Nordan.
The houses have small front and back gardens and have been wired for electric charging points with effective privacy created by Murphy + Sheanon Landscaping.
Inside the A2-Ber-rated properties have zoned heating, warmed by underfloor heating downstairs and radiators upstairs.
The homes include stylish, solid timber kitchens, painted Card Room Green, a smoky grey by Farrow & Ball that complements the cement grey colour of the window frames.
The bathrooms have brushed nickel hardware, Sonas sanitaryware, and French grey ceramic tiling.
Each has a separate utility room.
Two of the four houses have been staged for sale, while the other two are virtually staged.
The detached two-bed, Skye, measures 88 square metres, is on sale for €725,000. while the two four-bed semis, Jura and Islay, each measure 160 square metres in size, and are asking €1.195 million each.
The three-bed semi, Iona, the original house at number 47, which extends to 122 square metres, is asking €850,000.
Sherry FitzGerald is the selling agent.
