MILLIONAIRE’S ROW FOR €2.4M
Abbotts Hill in Malahide is being handed over to a second generation, writes Mark Keenan
How Abbott’s Hill in Dublin’s Malahide is coming of age for a new generation
26 Abbotts Hill Malahide Co Dublin ASKING PRICE: €2.395m
AGENT: Sherry FitzGerald Blanc, (01) 845 4500
WHEN Gem Construction launched Abbotts Hill on the seafront site of the old Malahide Golf Course in 2002, it was the second of the so-called “millionaires’ row” schemes to be constructed at the swishy North Dublin village.
Abbotts Hill followed close on to the success of Abington launched two years previous. Both schemes followed a notion that suburban-bred millionaires who grew up on city estates might just want to buy a new estate home to enjoy that social sense of community they had grown up with. The perceived wisdom at the time was that new estates were for first-time buyers and that the well-heeled preferred the privacy of a period pile with a high wall around it.
Parkway’s Abington, launched in 2000, had sold well at prices between €2m and €4m and drew in a celebrity element among its buyers with Ronan Keating of Boyzone and Westlife’s Nicky Byrne among them.
The 40 houses at the Abbotts Hill scheme, which came on stream two years later, were designed by Conroy Crowe Kelly architects and had much the same idea, although this estate had the advantage of being much closer to the sea.
The developers provided 14 different home types from 2,800 sq ft to 5,000 sq ft, and priced between €1.3m and €2.2m. There was also plenty of wiggle room for customisation on the developer’s part. As with Abington, heavy-hitters bought into the concept; among the better known early buyers was the author Cecelia Ahern, who still lives here.
Number 26’s buyers took advantage of the builder’s customisation clause by putting in a request for a house with a bigger footprint than the standard. Under their instructions, the builders made this two-storey over basement house 13 feet wider than the standard.
Soon after its completion they added a substantial kitchen extension to the rear and this took the overall size of the house to just under 4,000 sq ft.
Both estates have weathered well in their fourteen to eighteen years, and a generation of children has now grown up in them.
Having originally gone out on a limb to ensure maximum space for their offspring, the owners of Number 26 are now empty-nesters with a home that is now far too large for their needs. With plans to downsize, the couple have placed the property on the market through Sherry FitzGerald Blanc for €2.395m.
Interestingly, the two homes either side have sold since the crash, with one achieving
€2.1m in 2013 while the other fetched €2.3m in the following year.
Number 26 has five bedrooms (three of which are en suite) and four receptions, as well as a very substantial open plan kitchen/ living and dining space which is the nerve centre of the house.
The master bedroom suite includes both an en suite and a walk-in dressing room/ wardrobe.
Among the property’s features are underfloor heating, a Beam central vacuum system, a bespoke kitchen, timber Wainscotting panelling (formal rooms and reception hall) and surround-sound.
The house overlooks a common green area to the front, and enjoys coastal views from Donabate beach to Lambay Island.
The property is entered by ascending stone steps to the entrance hall which has Wainscotting, a tiled floor, decorative coving and stairs with a gallery-style landing overhead.
There’s a guest bathroom off the hall, along with the living room which features an open fireplace with a brass insert and gas fire, as well as sea views. There’s the dining room, also with an open gas fire, and sliding doors which lead through to the kitchen and family room.
This has handmade Richard Leonard units, a Rangemaster cooker, a wine cooler cabinet, and granite work surfaces including the central island. The floor is in limed oak finish from The Stone Rooms, while the living area has a raised Gazco Fire. Folding doors lead out to the patio and terrace garden. There’s a sitting room/TV room on this floor. At basement level is another living room, a second kitchen and utility, and the fifth bedroom.
The house is located eight minutes’ walk from Malahide Village with its renowned marina and pretty streets of traditionally fronted shops and eateries which include the Bon Appetit for tapas, the Chez Sara wine bar, and the Garden House Cafe. Malahide even has an outpost of Donnybrook Fair.
Among the well known landmarks nearby are Malahide Castle and its pleasure grounds, which pack the public in during the summer, as well as the 2km-long Velvet Strand, one of Dublin’s best-loved beaches.
Well known bars include Gibney’s, and Gilbert and Wright.
Meantime, the renowned golf course that moved to make way for Abbotts Hill in the late nineties is thriving, having been relocated to a new site at Beechwood Lane.
The builders made the house thirteen feet wider than the standard option