Douglas Newman Good's Skerries office begins a marketing campaign this week for a development of large, detached houses close to the beach at Bettystown, Co Meath. Four-bedroom detached homes with 1,600 sq. ft will cost from £174,950 and five-bedroom detached units with 2,200 sq. ft will be priced from £194,950. There will be a total of 40 houses in the Betaghstown Wood scheme, which is located in the grounds of Betaghstown House, a country guesthouse with acres of open tree-lined spaces.

Six of the eight houses in the first phase have already been sold and eight more will be released when a show-house opens on Saturday and Sunday next between 2 and 5 p.m. Many of the houses are likely to be bought by Dublin families looking for an attractive location along the coast close to schools, shops and recreational facilities. Bettystown is within a 15-minute drive of Drogheda and has one of the best links golf courses on the east coast.

A large number of houses and apartments have been completed in Bettystown over the past two years and many more are planned.

Commuting time to Dublin has been greatly shortened since the opening of the Balbriggan bypass and many of the families who have settled in the area use the regular train service between Laytown and the city.

Both house types being built in Betaghstown Wood will have three reception rooms and a combined kitchen/ breakfast room. The main bedrooms in both houses have en suite bathrooms, as well as the main bathrooms. Designed by Horan Associates and built by Jackie Green Construction, the houses will have a high standard of fit out including Shaker-style kitchen units, double-glazed windows, down lighters in three rooms and hardwood doors on the ground floor. All the houses will have gas-fired central heating.

Bettystown's appeal has been strengthened by the redevelopment of the Neptune Hotel, which now has an excellent restaurant and leisure centre.