Property & Interiors
Teeing up a luxury Tiger mansion
92 THE LINKS
Elmpark Green, Merrion, Dublin 4 Price: €720,000 Agent: Colliers International (01) 633 3764
Aglass-topped high rise home that truly lets you see the stars (as well as the sea) offers mid-market home hunters the chance of living at a contemporary penthouse in Ireland’s most expensive postcode.
The €720,000 price tag issued by Colliers for No92 The Links at Elmpark Green, which has just come to market, is less than the price of a mid-terrace or back-lane mews in the same postcode.
The swish seventh and eighth floor duplex home is also likely to attract downtraders from elsewhere given that the price also equates to the value of standard four/five-bed family estate homes in many Dublin suburbs.
This is the first time that any of the flagship penthouses at the landmark angled block have been offered for sale on the open market. No92 is also the scheme’s apex penthouse and the only one with uninterrupted views of the sea. The Elmpark Green scheme kicked off in 2007 in time for the crash and went into Nama. It was acquired by Starwood Capital four years ago for €190m, which finished and let out all 16 duplex penthouses (in excess of €2,400 per month). Colliers says No92 is likely to go to an owner-occupier this time.
While the prospect of retiring to such a penthouse space in D4 will be alluring for many downsizers, they might concede to wealthy singles, couples and high-ranking executives from multinationals given that the downside is one flight of stairs (the lift stops at the sixth) and designed as part of a pedestrian campus, it has just one parking space.
The award-winning mixed office and residential “pedestrian city” campus scheme was designed by Bucholz McEvoy architects. Accessed from Merrion Road, blocks were deliberately built super thin and tall to maximise views, lighting and ventilation. No92 has views of the 17.5 acres Elmpark golf course below front, while to the rear where the bedrooms are located, it has eighth-floor lighthouse vistas out to sea through floor-to-ceiling glazing.
It’s next door to St Vincent’s Hospital and a short stroll to the beach at Sandymount. The nearby Dart offers a five-minute scoot to the city centre. No92 has 1,624 sq ft of floor area, equivalent to one and a half times that of an average three-bed semi. But its most striking attraction is that vast wall-of-glass frontage which begins at ground level in the open-plan living area, rises for two floors and then, supported by huge curved glulam beams, rolls in high overhead to wrap around the apartment; providing a transparent glazed ceiling through which to see the clouds and the heavens. Huge mechanised blinds close it out elegantly when you prefer privacy.
The floor-to-ceiling height of this space is itself the equivalent of two and a half floors of a regular house. A gallery area looks down from above.
There are three bedrooms and three bathrooms and the entire was fitted and kitted by designers from House & Garden Ltd. The furniture comes with it if you’re prepared to spend another €20,000.
An entrance hall leads to the main living and dining area with its white kitchen, stainless steel appliances and granite worktops. The front glazed wall slides back to open fully into the outdoor terrace which, in turn, runs the width of the apartment. At the back are two bedrooms, one ensuite, one sharing the main bathroom, which is arranged ‘Jack and Jill’ style.
Upstairs, there’s a big gallery study overlooking the golf course and the master bedroom, with a bathroom ensuite also has an outdoor viewing terrace from which to watch the boats coming in.
And, of course, the stars.