With the official launch of Hamilton Park in Castleknock not due until this weekend, agent Sherry FitzGerald expressed surprise when hundreds of would-be buyers turned up at an intended sneak preview last weekend.
All from the agent’s waiting list, viewers had formed a queue outside the on-site sales office by noon. Thirty minutes later some 150 people were wandering in and out of showrooms, parking was at a premium and the playground in the central green space was having a robust baptism.
By day’s end 30 of the 44 houses on offer had been sold.
Park Developments has been building since the early 1960s and before 2008 was responsible for such high-profile developments as Carrickmines Wood, Mount St Anne's in Milltown and for apartments in Hanover Quay at Dublin's South Dock. The company has been involved in the Castleknock area since the 1980s.
Hamilton Park is funded by Nama. About half of the 44 houses in this first phase of three- and four-bedroom houses will be ready to move into before Christmas, the rest by spring 2016. Hamilton Park should be completed by 2018.
Artists
The development is named after painter Letitia Hamilton, who lived in nearby Diswellstown House. Continuing the link, house groups are named after Irish painters Yeats, Lavery, Swift, Orpen and Dillon. The architects are O'Mahony Pike and the interior designers are Arthur Duff and Ventura Design.
Mostly semi-detached, they have partial redbrick exteriors, large, ground-floor windows, rear gardens and cobblelock parking to the front. Owners will only need to bring flooring and furniture to their new home – bathrooms and kitchens come fully equipped and fitted, and each house has an en suite main bedroom and a downstairs toilet.
The three-beds with 111sq m (1,200sq ft) and 112sq m (1,215sq ft) cost €395,000, the four-beds with 144sq m (1,550sq ft) and 150sq ft (1,615sq ft) are €490,000.
A single, detached three-bedroom version is €425,000, and a detached four-bed, €550,000.
The three bedroom Dillon-design is wide fronted with parking to the front. The sitting room has a deep box-window to the front and patio doors to the rear garden. A box window also fills the main bedroom with light and all bedrooms have built-in wardrobes. The kitchen/dining room (with utility off) overlooks the rear.
The other house styles are a design variation on this, some with quirky shelving, others with larger dining areas and L-shaped kitchens. The main bedroom in the Swift is up at third level with a dormer window. On show Saturday and Sunday, September 26th-27th, 2-5pm.
