Quiet location perfect for family home

THE footballs say it all — lying forlornly on the grass on a quiet school morning, they hint at the life that goes on in Augusta Drive on Saturdays, Sundays and long, summer days.

Top of the range, detached and in the salubrious suburb of Douglas, Augusta Drive on Maryborough Hill is nevertheless a family estate, part of the Maryborough Woods scheme and safe and secure for children.

Built only two and a bit years ago, these are the apotheosis of the large Douglas house and the location overlooking Douglas Golf Club, makes the properties even more desirable.

Number 4, Augusta Drive, is new to the market this week through Malcolm Tyrrell of Cohalan Downing and it's a bit of a cracker, especially for those shopping for homes without the headache.

Neat and well kept, a house this tidy is balm to the soul and is also great for viewing, as you can see exactly what you're getting and it's quite a lot.

Five bedrooms, three bathrooms, a ballroom of a kitchen with a mega Smeg oven, splashback and extractor included, (the bones of €4,000), a very big and bright living room and a bow window overlooking the 17th green.

Colours are soft neutrals and curtains are really good quality and attractive they will also be staying with the house. All of the ground floor rooms have light oak joinery, with a particularly good staircase running on to a spacious landing.

The kitchen is in soft beech and must be at least 20' by 16' with a huge island unit lots of windows and double doors out to the patio and garden: there's also access to this little courtyard through double doors from the dining room.

The right hand side of the house has a large study, but's it's more like a den, because it has plenty of room for a large desk, bookshelves and computer, with room left over for a sofa, perhaps: ideal for home working and cut off from the rest of the house.

Behind is the staircase and the guest bathroom is tucked in at the side, with the understairs portion offering ample storage. Upstairs, the joinery changes to pine with the bedrooms ranged around the landing: this is finished in the same soft ochre carpet as the stair runner.

The surprise here is the neat sauna tucked into one of the bedrooms, along with some gym equipment, and while this is not included in the sale, gives a good indication of how much you can actually fit in here.

All of the bedrooms have good quality, modern fitted wardrobes, with a very attractive beech and opaque glass sliderobes in the master.

This has the major selling point of the Augusta Drive houses, a balcony with sweeping views over the golf course, (which looks like it may be around for quite a while), and floor to ceiling French doors.

This room is en suite, as is bedroom four, and the remaining rooms share a large main bathroom.

Heating is by gas and is zoned and attic is floored with a stairs for easy storage.

The back garden is a generous size, is very safe and comes with a large, garden shed.

The guide price for number four is in excess of €775,000, but considering the market is just waking up, this could go higher.

Down the road, at number 17 Augusta Drive, Con Dennehy of Property Choice has just agreed a sale at a figure in excess of €800,000, having started in the early days of January at €780,000 with interest picking up in the last couple of weeks.

Number 4 could set a further benchmark for this season's market.