To the Manor born in beautiful Kenmare

Tommy Barker

Only coming up for sale at a relatively advanced stage of construction are 18 semi-detached homes pitched at families keen for a second or retirement home in a spot packed with some of the country's best hotels, restaurants, bars and views.

Scenic and neatly-kept Kenmare gets appreciative buyers from Kerry, Cork, Limerick, Dublin and elsewhere, and those looking about to buy can get an immediate sense of the sort of quality they can expect in a finished product, as two showhouses done in contrasting decor styles open for display from July 16.

It is a first-phase of a development that will total 54 homes, with townhouses and detached houses yet to come on stream, and developer is Brian Gallivan, who has well-received schemes finished in Kenmare as a calling card.

And, on the evidence of the well-advanced construction, Oakwood Manor is different, well above standard building and finishing specifications, with concrete floors at first floor level for solidity and sound-proofing thus facilitating solid masonry walls between the three en-suite bedrooms as well.

Attention has been paid to other materials, so that hardwood windows are back in rightful pride of place, rainwater goods are in cast aluminium and floors are solid oak, with oak doors as well. Heating is by bulk-tank LPG.

The semis are 1,350 sq ft in size, each with three en suite bathrooms, kitchens are high-spec, there's a useful 300 sq ft of attic area with storage/conversion potential, and joint selling agents are KPK Properties in Kerry, with Hamilton Osborne King in Cork city. They set a E385,000 price guide for the houses with an option of full fit-out (usually the sort of option available with tax-driven schemes, though this isn't a tax-break scheme which means there is no restriction on usage) if new owners don't want the hassle of furniture sourcing and decoration. Sample decor is on display in a couple of the houses, done up by McGinty Design, on contemporary and colonial themes.

Several of the houses bound the 18-hole golf course, and there's an option of golf course memberships with other courses on the Ring of Kerry, Killarney and Waterville.