This weekend sees the launch of John's Wood, a new development of 140 houses in Lucan, Co Dublin. The development might already be familiar to Lucan house-hunters because the adjacent scheme, Grange Manor, which only went on the market a couple of weeks ago, nearly sold out on the first day.
The houses in John's Wood are a mix of mostly three-bedroom semi-detached houses and some detached houses with prices starting at £127,950. A notable feature of all the houses is that they are fronted with redbrick both upstairs and down and the bay window in one of the house styles is clad in lead as opposed to the more usual tile. The houses also feature a very nice upstairs bay window, which not only has a large picture window but enough room to put a cushion to create a nice window-seat.
The 140 houses are divided into 100 three-beds and 40 four-beds. Only 28 houses are being released this weekend and they will be ready for occupation by September.
The smaller three-beds have 1,117 sq ft and will sell from £127,950. In this type of semi, the architects have gone for an innovative and very family-friendly layout downstairs.
The front reception room is a good-sized, square-shaped room with a feature fireplace and a large picture window. There are no interconnecting doors because there is no formal diningroom. Instead, the entire back of this house has been made into a large eat-in kitchen-cum-family room.
Not only is it very well equipped with kitchen units along two walls it also has room for a good-sized dining table, a sofa, some chairs and a TV. There are patio doors opening out on to the garden and part of the ceiling has been clad in pitched pine. It is easy to see how this part of the house will become the really lived-in family part, with the front room kept for more occasional use.
Upstairs, there are two good-sized doubles, one en suite, and a large single. Unusually, the bathroom is to the front but is spacious and the layout makes for more roomy bedrooms and an attractive landing.
The other type of three-bed has 1,125 sq ft and will also sell from £127,950. This square-footage is quite large for a new three-bed and the space shows, particularly in the size of the bedrooms and the hall. The two reception rooms interconnect and the back room has patio doors to the garden.
Upstairs, the three bedrooms are good-sized doubles and a large single. As in all the houses there are three bathrooms, one under the stairs, one en suite and a family bathroom.
The four bedroom semi-detached houses in John's Wood have 1,270 sq ft and will sell from £144,950. In this case, the square-footage is not large for a four-bed and there are two doubles and two small singles. The hall is very attractive with a turn on the stairs making it seem more spacious and, unusually, double doors open into the livingroom from the hall, which is a grand touch. The reception rooms interconnect and there are patio doors in the diningroom.
These houses have bay windows both upstairs and down so the main bedroom and the livingroom benefit greatly from the extra space. The family bathroom has no window, just a skylight. The kitchen is a good size with room for a dining table and a good selection of fitted units. There is also a separate utility room with a door opening on to the side of the house. John's Wood has been built by Gable Developments, headed up by Ken Malone and Sean Murphy, whose previous successful schemes include Elmwood, and Brookwood. It is located just off the Newcastle Road very close to the Superquinn Shopping Centre.
