There are building works everywhere in Dublin and its environs. If every suburban side road and cul-de-sac seems to be thronged with refurbishment trucks, consider the set-up in Cherrywood, Dublin 18, where the level of industry entails the construction of a new town.
Cranes swing across the skyline while gangs of sub-contractors on the ground move in waves, from construction team brickies to first-fix plumbers and electricians and all the way through to the painting team who have to move at the speed of light to make the show house deadlines by homebuilders.
Last November Quintain launched Cherry Lane, a Danish-influenced scheme that borders Tully Park, a gorgeous 22-acre space landscaped by Murray & Associates that is centred on the ruins of Tully church and slopes down towards the green line Cherrywood Luas stop, making the walk to the station a mere five minutes. Its debut featured only houses, with the two-bedroom units starting from €550,000 and 22 two-, three- and four-beds have been sale agreed.
Now across the street the publicly-listed housebuilder Cairn is bringing a mix of homes to the market from two-bedroom apartments and three-bedroom duplexes to three- and four-bedroom houses at Mercer Vale through agents Hooke & MacDonald.
Cairn has some 2,000-plus homes under construction, having sold about 5,500 units since it was formed in 2015. When complete, Mercer Vale will bring about 330 homes to the strategic development zone, with about 36 of the first 180 launching today.
What’s most interesting here is the space on sale in the timber-frame builds, which are faced in red and buff brick. Working with architects McCrossan O'Rourke Manning, the team has delivered a fine collection of homes.
The housebuilder’s team of in-house architects, interior architects, interior designers and landscape architects used lockdown to refine the floor plans of every A2-rated unit to deliver some really well laid out abodes.
This is especially evident in the two-bedroom, own-door apartments, the three-bedroom duplexes and in the accommodation layout of the three-bedroom houses.
The two-bedroom apartments offer the most value by way of light and space. Ranging in price from €420,000 to €450,000 and from 84 to 87sq m (907sq ft to 934sq ft) in size these have 2.7m high ceilings and include a patio/small lawn to the front that extend to about 25sq m with a second outdoor space, a 15sq m terrace, to the rear.
It gives genuine indoor and outdoor living space – all a small house could deliver, albeit on one floor. The units open directly into the living area, an L-shaped room that extends to almost 7m and comprises kitchen, dining and living areas.
The proportions are impressive. There is room to zone each area with proper-size furniture. Off this is the accommodation. The main bedroom has an internal shower en suite bathroom while the second double is across the hall, meaning you could avail of the rent-a-room scheme and ensure that you both have some privacy and your own bathroom. The property also comes with one designated car-parking space.
Above the two-bedroom apartment is a three-bedroom duplex, with half of its steps hidden inside the hall so the ascent doesn’t look so steep from the outside.
These homes have an abundance of light and space for they extend to about 122sq m (1,313sq ft), the size of a decent three-bedroom semi. These are priced from €485,000 to €515,000.
Dual aspect there are glass sliding doors leading out to a very private terrace of almost 20sq m that is bounded by a 1.2m wall.
The kitchen cupboard doors have a visible wood grain and are finished in a colour that is called smoke grey but seems to change colour in the light to become a green grey. These have quartz countertops, limed oak internals and are equipped with Neff appliances.
Fabricator Nolan Kitchens worked with the team to custom-build each one to best fit the space in each unit and Sarah Murray, customer director at Cairn estimates that her teams spent at least 20 per cent of their time honing this part of the home. Each is perfectly proportioned to the space it inhabits.
At the top of a set of steep steps is the accommodation; two are very roomy doubles and the third is smaller, yet big enough to take a double bed. The wardrobes throughout are by Cawley’s.
The scheme has very smart three-bedroom homes, which come in mid-terrace, end-of-terrace and semi-detached options. All are two-storey with ceiling heights of 2.55m.
These have a separate sitting room to the front and a large kitchen/diner to the back which opens out to a garden that has a paved patio and is seeded for lawn by Donnybrook Landscapes.
The main bedroom shows what can be achieved when you work to exacting standards. It extends across the width of the property and has been designed to feel like a hotel suite, Murray says. Instead of running a wall of wardrobes across, they carved up the space to fashion a dressing area and fit in a shower en suite with a window. Ranging in price from €575,000 to €655,000, these measure about 117sq m (1,259sq ft).
There are several four-bedroom house styles for sale too. The mid- and end-of-terrace two-storey units are about 140sq m (1,506sq ft) in size and range in price from €695,000 to €725,000.
Four-bedroom semis of the same size are from €725,000 to €735,000. These open into a wide hall. To the front is a well proportioned square sitting room with a big eat-in kitchen cum family room that has large glass doors to the garden.
A larger four-bed that is set over three floors extends to about 186sq m (2,002sq ft) and these range in price from €775,000 to €800,000. Its main bedroom is at the top of the house and includes a dressing area that could double as a work from home station, under a large-format Velux.
Across the landing is a smart room that has multiple potential uses from an screening room to a gaming room, a full-size home office that, if you installed a sofa bed, could double up as a spare bedroom.
This show house, which like the other four show units, has been staged in a Scandi-chic fashion by Avenue Interiors. It overlooks the heritage property Lehaunstown House, a 19th-century farmhouse bounded by fine granite walls, which has been purchased by Windyridge Nurseries. The firm plans to open a second shop with a cafe.
The estate has almost 57 acres of parkland on its doorstep. There’s the aforementioned Tully Park, while just down the road there a further five acres at Beckett Park, where there are training facilities, a fully equipped children’s playground and tennis courts.
Across the M50 is Ticknick Park, which extends to almost 30 acres and is linked to the homes by cycle lanes and a pedestrian walkway across the motorway. All homes will have management charges.
