High quality at Castle Oaks

Affordable prices, good finish in Bandon scheme, says Tommy Barker.

HERE’S a hot tip to check on house build quality: open the hot-press door and just have a squint at how well finished the wood slats for clothes airing are, or how neatly the plumbing pipes are kept and secured. Chances are, if attention is paid to this sort of detail, then the rest of the stuff you can’t see, hidden behind finished walls or under floors, will also be properly done.

It’s a test that Castle Oaks passes with flying colours — just move in and hang up your towels.

Sales are already notching up at the Castle Oaks new homes scheme in Bandon, west Cork, with first-time buyers very much to the fore in the 70-plus plus unit development near the Castle Bernard Golf Club, with oak woods to its rear.

Affordability is the key, with three-bed options at €310,000 for a 950 sq ft mid terrace, same-size end terraces are €312,500 and semis are €315,000.

And, walking distance of the town, and the Riverview Shopping Centre and services, is a big factor too. The builder is Jim O’Driscoll of JOD Developments who bought the sloping hillside site with Bandon river valley views site with planning in place, but then resubmitted for an amended design via Deady Gahan Architects.

Selling agent is Darragh Taaffe of Keane Mahony Smith in Cork city, who says the standard of finish and build quality at Castle Oaks is top-rate: he has sold previously for JOD Developments in Cannon’s Wood and The Pines in Bandon, and says the firm’s reputation is very good. Insulation standards are high in these timber frame homes, with double the usual provision in the party walls between neighbours to cut out sound transfer: “that’s the kind of thing you really only find out once you move in, but will appreciate afterwards,” notes Mr Taaffe.

A showhouse opens shortly (once ESB is powered on) designed by Hannah Lorden, which shows how easy to live in these new homes are, with good living space at ground level especially. Main living rooms appear larger than the norm, with the option of double doors to the kitchen/dining room which runs the full width of the house and then opens again via French doors to the rear gardens.

Distinctive architrave profiles, gas heating, Hotpoint kitchen appliances are included in the sale, and the houses are ready to move into (ie, tiled, floored, fitted kitchens and built-ins,) bar furniture and curtains.