WEDO LIKE TO LIVEIN LUXURYBESIDE THESEA · 2016. 3. 23. · an affluent seaside resort, when you...
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MOVE 6 I t feels as though you are stepping into an affluent seaside resort, when you visit Robswall in Malahide. Maybe that’s why Hollybrook Homes, the developer of a new scheme of luxury homes by the sea in north Co Dublin claims it is not just selling a home, it is selling a dream. Robswall is leading the march when it comes to high-quality new homes, driven by new building regulations that raised the bar in Irish living. The houses, here, though, go above and beyond a quality family home. According to Hollybrook Homes, they’re “not built to stand out, but to be outstanding”. Jackie Horan, associate director of residential at Knight Frank estate agents, is excited about the three- and four-bed- room houses in the development on the Coast Road in Malahide. “You have to see them to get just how luxurious they are,” she says. “The level of thought and detail that has gone into them. You can see small extra attention from everything from the spindles on the stairs, to the art-deco light switches. It’s like being in a hotel,” she says. “There are unusual American-style touches, such as, the utility room being upstairs in some of the homes, or a big bay window you can lounge in is a feature in others.” The setting is spectacular, with the drive out to Robswall taking us along the coast road, looking out to Lambay Island and beyond, where, as Horan says, the sea has a different picture for you every day. Passing Portmarnock, and Robswall Castle, from which the development takes its name, it takes 30 minutes from Dublin city centre to the door. Robswall was established in 2007 and the earlier stages of the development include a crescent of elegant, neo-Geor- gian, three-floor homes, reminiscent of those on Dun Laoghaire seafront. Developer Gerry Gannon, of Gannon Homes, once owned the site, but nine acres and a portfolio of 85 properties were sold to London-based Development Securities in 2014. It went on to sell the development site to Hollybrook Homes, a UK company with Irish connections — two of its directors Malcolm Weston and Kenneth Birrane are from here. Robswall was Hollybrook Homes’s first foray into the Irish market, and the com- pany set about building 155 homes in their section of the sprawling development. Since the firm arrived here in 2014, 60 homes — worth more than €30m —have been sold, and the families who bought them have since settled in. Now another 24 have been released, with a three- and a four-bedroom showhome open for viewing today. Prices range from €450,000 to €660,000, and the two-storey homes are 1,119 sq ft to 1,216 sq ft for the three bed- room houses, to from 1,474 sq ft to 1,959 sq ft for the four-bedroom ones. So what’s so different about Robswall? For starters, there’s the individuality of every home, which takes away that Iden- tikit feel that can come with buying a house in a new development in the suburbs, even one as affluent as Malahide. All the homes have noticeably higher Seaside living in a new Malahide development comes with some classy touches, writes Larissa Nolan relaxed, seaside feel, including a set of patio doors leading onto the cobbled patio and a small, walled garden. Upstairs, the best feature is the main bedroom, which has an en suite bathroom hidden from view, down a small corridor and around a corner. So, instead of looking at a bathroom door, you look out at the Irish sea. There’s another bright, light-filled bedroom at the back, a smaller room that could be a study, nursery, or a guest bedroom, a third bathroom and the upstairs utility room. These three-bedroom homes would be perfect for a small family, or those who like to live in a cosier space. For those who prefer more room, an extra €100,000 to €200,000 buys you the four-bedroom houses, which seem spa- cious in comparison, though the amount of additional room they offer is not that much more. They have large, open-plan living/ dining rooms and some types have luxurious deep bay windows. Many refined touches have been added to make sure the homes function well. Kitchens are individually designed to include soft-close doors and drawers, under-cabinet lighting and branded appliances. Bathrooms have Villeroy & Boch baths and wash basins, Kludi polished chrome brassware, porcelain tiles on bath, floor and walls, chrome heated towel rails and large mirrors. They are heated by gas-fired central heating, the homes are A-rated energy efficient, and there are pressurised hot and cold water supplies services to the bathrooms. The exteriors have stylish mottled brown brick facades, paved front drives with planter beds and private rear gardens. This is all about suburban living. Victorian- style street lighting gives a romantic feel. Completion dates range from summer to the end of 2016. One sticking point for some might be the move out to Malahide, which, however picturesque, is 20km out of the city, in north Co Dublin. You will have to be a sub- urbanite rather than an urbanite at heart, but the chances are that you will be exchanging life in an old house for a brand new alternative. “Some people will always prefer city living, but Malahide is a location in itself. Everything is here, great restaurants and pubs, specialist shops and boutiques, as well as industry. “It’s got a harbour and a marina and a beautiful five-mile strand of beach. It’s a very relaxed way of life,” says Horan. Robswall is five minutes by car to Malahide, which despite having a range of boutiques and shops has retained a village feel. Among the businesses in town are delicatessen Donnybrook Fair, SuperValu, a Three mobile phone shop, and Marc Cain, an exclusive women’s fashion store. There are also plenty of eateries, including the Garden House, garden centre and cafe, the Greedy Goose restaurant and the Gourmet Food Parlour. If you want to go the health-food route, Ray Shah, former Big Brother contestant and DJ, has a Bodyfirst nutrition supplements and health food shop in town. A move to Malahide means you will also be joining a growing list of celebs who have chosen the town as their home, including Robbie and Claudine Keane — when they aren’t mixing it up with the rich and famous in LA — and 2fm DJ Nicky Byrne and wife, Georgina Ahern. The town is on the M1, and is serviced by buses and the Dart. It is 10km from Dublin airport. So who is buying the homes? “We have a lot of professionals, such as pilots working out of Dublin airport, who are raising their families here,” says Horan. Showhomes are available to view today, from 10.30am to 12.30pm; knightfrank.ie ceilings and the extra, and unusual, rectangular window panelling near the roof adds a stylish touch and allows in significantly more light. The side entrance to the three-bedroom showhouse in The Terrace has a sea-green wooden door, with a latticed window and more glass flanking either side. Step inside and to your left is a bright, intelligently designed kitchen which includes room to dine as well as generous storage and high-spec appliances. To the right is a storage room the size of a walk-in wardrobe, and then a bathroom, before you enter a living area which has a I’m happy to stick with traditional lime plaster, thank you T hroughout the restoration of my Georgian house in Dundalk, the interior walls have always been a hot topic of conversation by visitors, be they friends, family or members of various building trades. As the work has been progressing, I’ve been asked countless times why I have chosen not to dry line the inside of all exterior walls, proceeding instead with a comparatively expensive and archaic lime plaster finish. There are several reasons. Modern dry lining is a poor choice for a period home: it is not vapour permeable by design and as such will trap cold air between the lining board and the single leaf of exterior stone wall. Lining the inside of a stone wall results in insulating the interior of the wall from the heat of the room, which can cause condensation, mould and fungus to form, along with other serious problems. The second reason is cost. There are numerous specialised, breathable, insulated boards available which maintain the breathability of the exterior walls. However, they are several times more expensive than regular modern boards. Lining the interior walls of my house would become tremendously expensive. Third, insulating board is available in various thicknesses, the thicker boards offering the best insulating properties. However, because of the various pieces of joinery and plasterwork on the inside of the exterior walls, such as architraves, cornicing and window shutter boxes, dry lining of the walls is extremely intrusive and damaging to the fabric of the house. For example, it would partially or completely cover the cornicing around the top of the walls, or reduce the depth by which the shutter boxes protruded from the wall considerably. A further reason for not dry lining the interior is simply that my planning permission does not expressly allow it as I did not mention it in my initial application. The permission granted was for the “patch repair of plasterwork where required”; completely covering up original 200-year old plasterwork would not have been acceptable. One final reason is that I’m not entirely convinced that dry lining is worth doing from a cost/benefit point of view. All of my sash windows have been restored with original single-glazed panes of glass and many of these large windows make up a full third of a room’s exterior wall space. It’s questionable as to how much effect dry-lining the remaining two-thirds of the wall space would have, especially considering that it is not possible to line the inside of the large window reveals, the spaces into which the window shutters retract. With such large spans of non-insulated wall space, it seems somewhat counter- intuitive to slap some board up on the remaining wall spans, just because “it’s the thing to do in a renovation”. As mentioned, covering the inside of exterior walls across three storeys with a breathable board would have become expensive quickly. However, what does lend itself well to insulation, much like any other home, is the attic space. My roof was probably replaced within the past 30 or 40 years or so, and as such has a relatively modern construction with evenly spaced ceiling joists. Instead of getting in an insulation firm to tackle the barren attic space, I spent a day myself laying fibreglass wool between the joists, which was a relatively straightforward task. A further 300mm layer will be laid perpendicular to the rafters once all plumbing is completed. With my mind at rest regarding insulation, the lime plasterwork could begin on the interior walls. Here’s the answer to the endless queries over why I’ve shunned modern dry lining on my walls STEPHEN HICKEY RETURN TO SPLENDOUR Dry lining would reduce the depth by which the shutter boxes protruded Far left, top, large bay windows come with some of the homes, which have Villeroy & Boch sanitaryware in the bathrooms, far left, large living spaces, left, and kitchens with soft-close units, right EVERYTHING IS HERE. IT’S GOT A HARBOUR, A MARINA AND A BEAUTIFUL FIVE-MILE STRAND OF BEACH ALAN HOPPS WE DO LIKE TO LIVE IN LUXURY BESIDE THE SEA Malahide, in north Co Dublin, is 30 minutes’ drive to the city centre and has good transport links
Transcript of WEDO LIKE TO LIVEIN LUXURYBESIDE THESEA · 2016. 3. 23. · an affluent seaside resort, when you...
MOVE
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It feels as though you are stepping intoan affluent seaside resort, when youvisit Robswall in Malahide. Maybethat’s why Hollybrook Homes, thedeveloper of a new scheme of luxuryhomes by the sea in north Co Dublinclaims it is not just selling a home, it is
selling a dream.Robswall is leading the march when it
comes to high-quality newhomes, drivenbynewbuildingregulations that raised thebar in Irish living. The houses, here,though, go above and beyond a qualityfamily home. According to HollybrookHomes, they’re “notbuilt to standout, butto be outstanding”.Jackie Horan, associate director of
residentialatKnightFrankestateagents, isexcited about the three- and four-bed-room houses in the development on theCoast Road inMalahide.“You have to see them to get just how
luxurious they are,” she says. “The level ofthoughtanddetail thathasgoneintothem.You can see small extra attention fromeverything from the spindles on the stairs,to the art-deco light switches. It’s likebeing in a hotel,” she says.“There are unusual American-style
touches, such as, the utility room beingupstairs in someof the homes, or a big baywindow you can lounge in is a feature inothers.”Thesettingisspectacular,withthedrive
out to Robswall taking us along the coastroad, looking out to Lambay Island andbeyond,where,asHoransays,theseahasadifferent picture for you every day.Passing Portmarnock, and Robswall
Castle, fromwhich the development takesits name, it takes 30 minutes from Dublincity centre to the door.Robswall was established in 2007 and
the earlier stages of the developmentinclude a crescent of elegant, neo-Geor-gian, three-floor homes, reminiscent ofthose on Dun Laoghaire seafront.Developer Gerry Gannon, of Gannon
Homes,onceownedthesite,butnineacresandaportfolioof85propertiesweresoldtoLondon-based Development Securities in2014.ItwentontosellthedevelopmentsitetoHollybrookHomes, aUKcompanywithIrish connections — two of its directorsMalcolmWeston and Kenneth Birrane arefrom here.Robswall was Hollybrook Homes’s first
foray into the Irish market, and the com-pany set about building 155 homes in theirsection of the sprawling development.Since the firm arrived here in 2014,
60 homes — worth more than €30m—have been sold, and the families whobought them have since settled in. Now
another 24 have been released, with athree- and a four-bedroom showhomeopen for viewing today.Prices range from €450,000 to
€660,000, and the two-storey homes are1,119 sq ft to 1,216 sq ft for the three bed-roomhouses, to from1,474 sq ft to 1,959 sqft for the four-bedroom ones.Sowhat’s so different about Robswall?For starters, there’s the individuality of
every home, which takes away that Iden-tikitfeelthatcancomewithbuyingahouseinanewdevelopment in the suburbs, evenone as affluent as Malahide.All the homes have noticeably higher
Seaside living in anewMalahidedevelopment comeswith some classytouches, writesLarissaNolan
relaxed, seaside feel, including a set ofpatio doors leading onto the cobbled patioand a small, walled garden.Upstairs, the best feature is the main
bedroom,whichhas an en suite bathroomhidden from view, down a small corridorandaroundacorner.So, insteadof lookingat a bathroom door, you look out at theIrish sea.There’s another bright, light-filled
bedroom at the back, a smaller room thatcould be a study, nursery, or a guestbedroom, a third bathroom and theupstairs utility room.These three-bedroom homes would be
perfectforasmall family,orthosewholiketo live in a cosier space.For those who prefer more room, an
extra €100,000 to €200,000 buys you thefour-bedroom houses, which seem spa-ciousincomparison,thoughtheamountofadditional roomtheyoffer isnot thatmuchmore. They have large, open-plan living/dining rooms and some types haveluxurious deep baywindows.Many refined touches have been added
to make sure the homes function well.Kitchens are individually designed toinclude soft-close doors and drawers,under-cabinet lighting and brandedappliances.Bathrooms have Villeroy & Boch baths
and wash basins, Kludi polished chromebrassware, porcelain tiles on bath, floorand walls, chrome heated towel rails andlargemirrors.They are heated by gas-fired central
heating, the homes are A-rated energyefficient, and there are pressurised hotand cold water supplies services tothe bathrooms.The exteriors have stylish mottled
brown brick facades, paved front driveswithplanterbedsandprivatereargardens.Thisisallaboutsuburbanliving.Victorian-style street lighting gives a romantic feel.Completiondatesrangefromsummerto
the end of 2016.Onestickingpointforsomemightbethe
move out to Malahide, which, howeverpicturesque, is 20km out of the city, innorthCoDublin.Youwillhave tobea sub-urbanite rather than an urbanite at heart,but the chances are that you will beexchanging life in an old house for a brandnew alternative.“Some people will always prefer city
living, but Malahide is a location in itself.Everything is here, great restaurants andpubs, specialist shops and boutiques, aswell as industry.“It’s got a harbour and a marina and a
beautiful five-mile strand of beach. It’s avery relaxedway of life,” says Horan.Robswall is five minutes by car to
Malahide, which despite having a rangeof boutiques and shops has retained avillage feel. Among the businesses intown are delicatessen Donnybrook Fair,SuperValu, a Three mobile phone shop,and Marc Cain, an exclusive women’sfashion store.There are also plenty of eateries,
includingtheGardenHouse,gardencentreand cafe, theGreedyGoose restaurant andthe Gourmet Food Parlour. If you want togo the health-food route, Ray Shah,formerBigBrothercontestantandDJ,hasaBodyfirst nutrition supplements andhealth food shop in town.Amove toMalahidemeans youwill also
be joiningagrowinglistofcelebswhohavechosen the town as their home, includingRobbie and Claudine Keane — when theyaren’t mixing it up with the rich andfamous in LA — and 2fm DJ Nicky Byrneandwife, Georgina Ahern.The town is on the M1, and is serviced
by buses and the Dart. It is 10km fromDublin airport.Sowhoisbuyingthehomes?“Wehavea
lot of professionals, such as pilotsworkingoutofDublin airport,whoare raising theirfamilies here,” says Horan.
Showhomes are available to view today,from 10.30am to 12.30pm; knightfrank.ie
ceilings and the extra, and unusual,rectangular window panelling near theroof adds a stylish touch and allows insignificantlymore light.Thesideentrance to the three-bedroom
showhouse in The Terrace has a sea-greenwooden door, with a latticedwindow andmore glass flanking either side.Step inside and to your left is a bright,
intelligently designed kitchen whichincludes room to dine as well as generousstorage and high-spec appliances.To the right is a storage room the size of
awalk-inwardrobe,andthenabathroom,before you enter a living area which has a
I’m happy to stick with traditional lime plaster, thank you
Throughout therestoration ofmyGeorgian house inDundalk, the interior
walls have always beena hot topic of conversationby visitors, be they friends,family ormembers of variousbuilding trades.As thework has been
progressing, I’ve been askedcountless timeswhy I havechosen not to dry line theinside of all exterior walls,proceeding insteadwith acomparatively expensive andarchaic lime plaster finish.There are several reasons.Modern dry lining is a
poor choice for a periodhome: it is not vapourpermeable by design and assuchwill trap cold airbetween the lining board andthe single leaf of exteriorstonewall.Lining the inside of a stone
wall results in insulating theinterior of thewall from theheat of the room,which can
cause condensation,mouldand fungus to form, alongwith other serious problems.The second reason is cost.
There are numerousspecialised, breathable,insulated boards availablewhichmaintain thebreathability of the exteriorwalls. However, they are
several timesmore expensivethan regularmodern boards.Lining the interior walls ofmy housewould becometremendously expensive.Third, insulating board is
available in variousthicknesses, the thickerboards offering the bestinsulating properties.
However, because of thevarious pieces of joinery andplasterwork on the inside ofthe exterior walls, such asarchitraves, cornicing andwindow shutter boxes, drylining of thewalls isextremely intrusive anddamaging to the fabric ofthe house.For example, it would
partially or completely coverthe cornicing around the topof thewalls, or reduce thedepth bywhich the shutterboxes protruded from thewall considerably.A further reason for not
dry lining the interior issimply thatmy planningpermission does notexpressly allow it as I didnotmention it inmy initialapplication. Thepermission grantedwasfor the “patch repair ofplasterworkwhererequired”; completelycovering up original200-year old plasterwork
would not have beenacceptable.One final reason is that I’m
not entirely convinced thatdry lining is worth doingfrom a cost/benefit point ofview. All of my sashwindowshave been restoredwithoriginal single-glazed panesof glass andmany of theselargewindowsmake up a fullthird of a room’s exteriorwall space.It’s questionable as to
howmuch effect dry-liningthe remaining two-thirds ofthewall spacewould have,especially considering that itis not possible to line theinside of the largewindowreveals, the spaces intowhich thewindowshutters retract.With such large spans of
non-insulatedwall space, itseems somewhat counter-intuitive to slap some boardup on the remainingwallspans, just because “it’s thething to do in a renovation”.
Asmentioned, covering theinside of exterior walls acrossthree storeys with abreathable boardwould havebecome expensive quickly.However, what does lend
itself well to insulation,much like any other home,is the attic space. My roofwas probably replacedwithin the past 30 or 40 yearsor so, and as such has arelativelymodernconstructionwith evenlyspaced ceiling joists.Instead of getting in an
insulation firm to tackle thebarren attic space, I spent adaymyself laying fibreglasswool between the joists,whichwas a relativelystraightforward task. Afurther 300mm layerwill belaid perpendicular to therafters once all plumbing iscompleted.Withmymind at rest
regarding insulation, the limeplasterwork could begin onthe interior walls.
Here’s the answer to the endless queries overwhy I’ve shunnedmodern dry lining onmywalls
STEPHEN HICKEYRETURN TOSPLENDOUR
Dry lining would reduce the depth bywhich the shutter boxes protruded
Far left, top, large baywindows come withsome of the homes,which have Villeroy &Boch sanitaryware in thebathrooms, far left, largeliving spaces, left, andkitchens with soft-closeunits, right
EVERYTHING IS HERE.IT’S GOT A HARBOUR,A MARINA AND ABEAUTIFUL FIVE-MILESTRAND OF BEACH
ALAN HOPPS
WEDO LIKE TO LIVE INLUXURY BESIDE THE SEA
Malahide, in north Co Dublin, is 30minutes’ drive to the city centre
and has good transport links
