Homes to set pulses racing
The Paddocks, Newbridge, Co Kildare ASKING PRICE: €252,500-€319,000 AGENT: REA Coonan (01) 6286128
AS thoroughbred horses pounded across the wind and rain-swept Curragh racecourse on Sunday during the second leg of the Irish Champions Weekend, home-buyers raced nearby to buy the first homes launched at The Paddocks.
The new Newbridge development, situated in the heart of bloodstock breeding and racing country, was launched last weekend on Station Road. The Montane Developments-built scheme saw 13 of the 18 three and four-bed townhouses, semi-detached and detached houses booked during the opening weekend, but there will be about 200 properties available at The Paddocks when the scheme is finished.
The three-bed townhouses, which span 1,091 sq ft, are priced from €252,500, while the 1,044-sq ft semi-detached version costs from €249,000 and the detached style, which also measures 1,044 sq ft, is selling for €282,500. Unusually, the four-bed semi-detached style is larger and more expensive, at 1,453 sq ft and €319,000, respectively, than the detached style, which has 1,279 sq ft of space and a price-tag of €312,500. That’s because the semi-detached version is the only style laid out over three floors rather than two and because the price includes white goods and flooring, the selling agent says.
The DDA Architects-designed development is also unusual in that the front elevations are finished either in full-brick or monocouche render, depending on where they are positioned on the site and the style chosen. There is a mix of concrete and granite to the finishes of the windowsills and footpaths. Out back, there are levelled and seeded gardens and a patio. Some of the house types have independent side gates for rear access.
Inside each property, all the walls are painted white and the doors are fitted with chrome lever handles and ironmongery. The contemporary-style kitchens come with soft-close doors and drawers. The bathrooms and ensuites have floor and wall tiling to the shower area, while the bathrooms have been fitted with heated towel rails.
The A3 BER for the houses was achieved by fitting them with UPVC argon-filled windows and patio doors that reflect heat back into the rooms and equipping them with an A-rated gas condensing boiler for the central heating system. Solar panels generate hot water and a mechanical heat-recovery ventilation system supplies a constant stream of fresh air to each house by reducing condensation and dust and detecting when there is extra moisture in the air such from cooking or showering. The system recovers up to 90pc of the heat energy from the exhausted stale air and uses it to warm the fresh air coming into the house.
Newbridge contains a slew of primary and secondary schools, most of which are located a short distance from The Paddocks. For commuters, Newbridge is situated just off the M7 bypass and is on the main Dublinto-Cork train line. There are 35 rail services a day between Newbridge and Dublin city centre, with journey times of 40 minutes.
The showhouses at The Paddocks will reopen this weekend, with viewings scheduled to take place between 2pm and 4pm tomorrow and Sunday.