The largest and most sumptuous are in the heart of leafy Foxrock, on Hainault Road, in south Co Dublin, where developers Silkmore have created a small enclave of nine huge detached Edwardian-style houses and just eight super-sized apartments in the grounds of the old Grove House.

Listed trees bound the site and a lot of mature planting and landscaping has been introduced to this delightful woodland setting on Foxrock's best road, ensuring that this is one of the finest suburban developments in a long time.

These are power houses in every sense . . . they are designed with a respect for the past and built with an old-style durability and quality in the finish which is so valuable in this throwaway age.

You would expect this with houses where the AMV is 4m . . . and yes, this is an advised minimum value because under the buying process, purchasers will be asked to put in bids for the four houses remaining to be sold out of the nine.

Each house can be bid for separately and, says Brian Carey of agents Hooke & MacDonald, prices are likely to vary because the gardens are of different sizes and the houses enjoy a variety of aspects and positions within the development.

The showhouse, will be sold for the highest price because it has an entrance off Hainault Road and includes the very fine carpets, curtains, contents and finishes chosen by Colette Ward of Colette Ward Interiors in Aughrim The development company, Silkmore, is run by the Leahy family. The family home was just down the road and, says Jackie Leahy, it meant that they knew what both neighbours and buyers would like to see happening in the area.

"We felt very strongly that we wanted to build something that was of the highest quality. We knew the homes should be beautiful buildings, so we asked Olan Crowley of Frank Crowley architects to come up with a design which would complement what is here already.

"We wanted to retain that old Edwardian feel that you see in so many houses around here. A lot of the trees were listed and we preserved them and we are also replanting the high hedge along Hainault Road to retain that leafy character . . . that authentic 'Foxrock' feeling.".

These vast 410sq m (4,400sq ft) double-fronted three-storey homes are an imposing sight with their clean, uncluttered facades, Edwardian-style windows and red-tiled roofs .

In the hall, the herringbone parquet floor and huge double-height ceiling with a mezzanine landing at first-floor level set the tone as soon as you walk in . . . these homes are all about space, light and full-on luxury.

On the right is a large familyroom with classic fireplace.

To the left is the living/diningroom, interconnecting with sliding doors and luxuriously decorated in creams and a toning, rich, red diningroom.

The high ceilings, big windows, heavy doors and the rich wallpapers, curtains and carpets are a luxurious combination indeed.

At the back of the house is the huge kitchen and family space, with marble tiled floors, solid-wood fitted kitchen with granite worktop and integrated appliances. Light streams into this room from every angle, as well as from velux rooflgihts above. Double doors open onto the landscaped gardens and a large utility room connects into the garage at the side.

Upstairs on the first floor are four of the five bedrooms as well as the beautiful family bathroom with a jacuzzi.

The bedrooms are all vast double rooms. At the back is a child's bedroom as well as a double bedroom with big en suite shower. To the front are a guest room with extensive fitted wardrobes with glazed sliding doors and a large ensuite on one side of the house and, on the other, the master bedroom with "wood-panel" effect wallpaper and splashes of cerise in the headboard and curtains, walk in wardrobe and large en suite bathroom.

The house was styled by Colette Ward of Colette Ward Interiors.

"Everyone is tired of creams and beiges. Interiors follow fashion and at the moment, colour is very fashionable. This house is not minimalism, it's total maximalism. You need colour and comfort and good paintings and good furnishings in a house as special as this.

"The showhouse has quite an eclectic mix of furniture, paintings and antiques but from the hall door there is a connection linking colours and textures."

While the houses are the primary focus of this scheme, there are also some beautiful apartments being built in the extended and refurbished original Grove House. These are very large . . . anything from 108 to 178sq m (1160 to 1900sq ft) and are either twoor three-bed duplex homes, some of which have astounding conical ceilings and superb quality of finish. These cost from 1m.

Price: "ve bed houses from 4m, two-bed apartments from 1m Agent: Hooke & MacDonald 01 6318402