Carrickmines home with its own leisure complex for €2.25m

The ultimate 'build-off' has erupted on rare occasions in Irish city suburbs when a developer opts to sell land off in premium sites to wealthy self-builders rather than pursue the normal route of building the homes en masse and selling them on. And this has happened around the south east Dublin suburbs and Malahide in particular.

There is entertainment too - in the form of at least one particularly outrageous abode - ostentatious to the point of being comical. But most self -builders in these sorts of schemes are tastefully restrained to the degree that a different home on every site ends up providing an enclave with genuine character once it matures.

This what happened at the Gallagher Brennanstown Vale scheme in Carrickmines, Dublin 18 where buyers took sites back in the late 1980s and early 1990s which are today considered more suitable for entire developments.

Because of the era in which it was built, most of the homes here have the Neo Georgian styles popular back in the day.

The owners of Bridgefield House also stuck with the Neo Georgian basics but provided themselves with an addition that would certainly set them well ahead of the self-building Jones's - a self-contained leisure centre wing which includes a steam room, sauna, Jacuzzi, changing room and best of all, a 14m long heated indoor swimming pool.

Apparently the three boys who grew up here were all water polo fanatics and mum and dad decided to go the whole nine yards to indulge their sporting activities.

These days it is the grandchildren who use the pool, which is still in excellent condition and looking like it was installed yesterday. While the house itself comes with a half acre of land attached, the current owners have previously sliced a chunk off their original site to build a smaller home adjoining. Now as empty nesters, they're selling Bridgefield House and considering their options.

One of the big concerns about swimming pools is the dangers of unaccompanied access by small children. But this complex is accessed via a security-locked door to curtail these sorts of worries.

Built in 1994, the house is entranced via a pillared portico through wide double doors into the galleried main hall. Off this is the drawing room which interconnects with the formal dining room, providing one very large space for entertaining.

There's a modern kitchen/breakfast room and a conservatory overlooking the very extensive half-acre gardens. There's a family/tv room and a "hidden" games room whose entrance is concealed in the panelling of one of the other receptions. This in turn leads to the self-contained leisure complex.

Upstairs, this house has five bedrooms. The master chamber comes with a full ensuite bathroom while the others all have ensuite showers.

For a house this age, a BER of C1 is more than respectable and there's a sophisticated alarm system with intruder and smoke sensors in all rooms. Outside there's a double garage for four cars with security lighting front and back. Brennanstown Vale's homes soared to just under €5m in the boom but prices have not fallen below €1.5m in the worst of the crash. Owners like to stay put - just four homes have sold here since the property register commenced five years ago.

Today councils don't allow ultra-low density development and modern homes with rural sized sites are a rarity. A site on Brennanstown Road acquired for €8m in 2013 recently came back to market for €18m. So Bridgefield might be worth a splash at €2.25m.

Bridgefield House

Brennanstown Vale, Carrickmines,

Dublin 18

Asking price: €2.25m

Agent: Sherry FitzGerald (01) 2894386