Dublin 8/€750,000: A development of new houses at 23-29 Windsor Terrace at Harold's Cross Bridge looks very different from the other homes further along the canal.
Where they are solid, Victorian redbricks, the newly-built terrace is unmistakenly modern.
Designed by award-winning Dublin architectural firm de Blacam and Meagher, they show a simplicity in form and an emphasis on plain, solid, natural materials that's a feature of the houses built by that practice. Six of them, all with three bedrooms plus a small study, are for sale through Hooke & MacDonald for €750,000.
The white painted terrace is the final element in a much larger building project by Dion Properties that includes a new car showroom for Windsor Motors and an imaginatively designed apartment scheme overhead. The houses do however feel quite separate, occupying a small stretch of the canal, set back from the road.
From their front doors they look two-storey, but they have three storeys, the top floor being set back to make room for a decent-sized, south-facing terrace on the roof.
Inside the layout is perfectly simple and all six houses are the same. At ground level there are two bedrooms. The first, a small single, is at the front of the house, its teak double glazed window beside the front door. The second bedroom, a double, is at the back and it opens onto a walled patio area. In between, is a smart looking, well-appointed bathroom, with grey mosaic tiling, contemporary fittings, chrome details and finished with granite shelving.
The main living accommodation is on the first floor and it, like the staircase, is floored throughout with oak. There are other oak details, including handrails and skirting boards.
The livingroom is to the front, a stainless steel gas fire, wall-mounted lighting and recessed spotlights setting the room up for contemporary furnishing. At the back is the dining area and connecting the two spaces is a galley kitchen, which is fitted out with white units, a black granite worktop and stainless steel appliances.
The main bedroom is a back room at the top of the house. It has a sizable en suite, finished in similar style to the main bathroom downstairs and a walk-in wardrobe area.
The study is to the front and it opens out onto the roof garden. From here, the views are of the canal below and the mountains in the distance over the rooftops.
An underground car-parking space comes with each house and to the front is a small railinged area so that the hall door doesn't open directly onto the street. An alarm is included in the standard specifications.
Maybe it's their height or the way the architects have maximised the opportunities for natural light to flood into the rooms, but the stylish, contemporary houses feel larger than their 120 sq m (1,300 sq ft).
They go on view today, tomorrow, and over the weekend.
