‘Aiken’ for a family four-bed on former Tánaiste’s land in Dublin 18
Sandyford, Dublin 18 Asking price: €474,500-€649,500 Agent: Kelly Walsh (01) 6645500
Frank Aiken, the revolutionaryturned-statesman, was a founding member of Fianna Fáil who progressed from chief of staff of the anti-Anglo Irish Treaty IRA to becoming a minister in successive Fianna Fáil governments.
After the outbreak of World War II, he was appointed by Éamon de Valera to become Minister for the Coordination of Defensive Measures and was tasked with overseeing Ireland’s neutral position during the Emergency. Aiken served as Tánaiste between 1965 and 1969.
Back in 1926, he purchased Dún Gaoithe, a dairy farm in Sandyford. An amateur inventor who took out patents on everything from a turf stove and beehive to an air raid shelter, Aiken designed a giant wind generator especially for the farm.
The Aiken family went on to amass extensive property between Sandyford and Stepaside. It was on some of this land that the eponymous Aiken’s Village, a scheme of houses and apartments, was developed off the Kilgobbin Road during the Celtic Tiger. Last year, a developer called Coshon launched a smaller scheme, Dún Gaoithe, beside Aiken’s Village — albeit with its own entrance from Village Road.
Dún Gaoithe, which translates as ‘fort of the wind’, is named after Aiken’s farmhouse and is set within a landscaped environment at the foothills of the Dublin Mountains, where it’s within walking distance of Stepaside village.
During the recession, the site was targeted for 410 homes and a neighbourhood shopping centre by one of the country’s biggest developers, P Elliott, which built schemes such as Herberton in Rialto before going into receivership.
By contrast, Coshon is developing 61 houses and apartments at Dún Gaoithe; 35 one- and two-bed apartments and three-bed duplexes are scheduled to be built on the site later this year.
At present, there are five homes for sale from the final release of Dún Gaoithe houses that came on the market in February. All but one of those properties are four-bed homes, aimed at South Co Dublin families trading up.
Sizes for the four-bed semi-detached and detached homes range from 1,604 sq ft to 1,802 sq ft, with prices going from €599,500 to €649,500. There is also one three-bed mid-terraced house for sale; it spans 1,184 sq ft and is priced from €474,500.
All the four-bed houses have a full-brick façade, with a rendered external finish to the three-bed. There are double-glazed UPVC windows in an anthracite grey colour from Grady Windows throughout.
There is parking for two cars, and a garden and paved patio to the side or rear — depending on the house type chosen.
The garden is enclosed by concrete posts and shiplap timber fencing panels, and there is a side gate to some house designs. All the house types have external lighting to the front and rear.
Inside, the walls and ceilings are painted throughout. The contemporarystyle kitchen, with its quartz stone countertops and soft-close doors and drawers, comes from Keane Kitchens. The kitchen will include integrated Siemens appliances if buyers return signed contracts within 21 days.
Keane Kitchens also supplied the shaker-style wardrobes to the bedrooms. The bathrooms and ensuites are fitted with sanitaryware, polished-chrome heated towel rails, and wall tiling.
The A3-rated houses have PV panels on the roof that generate electricity, thereby keeping utility bills in check. An A-rated gas condensing boiler provides gas-fired central heating that can be controlled from different zones.
Dún Gaoithe is served by the No 47 bus, which has 19 weekday departures to Dublin city centre and takes in stops at Sandyford, Stillorgan, UCD, Sandymount, Grand Canal Docks and Trinity College on its one-hour journey.
The development is a 15-minute walk away from the Glencairn Luas stop, with the trip to St Stephen’s Green taking about half an hour. Dún Gaoithe is also close to the Sandyford Interchange, or junction 14 of the M50.
Viewings of the four-bed showhouse are by appointment.