Helen Dillon’s Ranelagh home and garden sell in four weeks for €4.5m

The Dublin 6 home of prominent Irish gardener Helen Dillon has sold for about €4.5million within four weeks of its placing on the market. The detached Georgian property on Ranelagh's exclusive Sandford Terrace was placed for sale for €4.6m in early April, and it's understood contracts were signed last week by a solicitor acting in trust for an Irish buyer for a sum of around €4.5million. Sherry FitzGerald agent, Geralyn Byrne refused to comment except to confirm that contracts had been signed, and that owners Helen and Val Dillon were "very pleased" with the outcome.

The garden of 45 Sandford Terrace was first opened to the public 25 years ago, and has long been considered “the best garden in Dublin”. The 397sq m (4,273sq ft) property, on half an acre has featured in some of the world’s glossiest garden and interiors books and magazines.

“The garden is like a picture that I’ve been playing with for 44 years, and it keeps changing. But I’m ready for a new picture now,” Helen told The Irish Times last month. She and her antiques dealer husband, Val, are now looking to downsize locally. Financial Times’ gardening columnist Robin Lane Fox described the garden in 2014 as “the best walled town garden one can hope to see”.

It’s expected the Dillons will vacate the house by autumn, and in the meantime Helen will continue to open the gardens through the summer for scheduled public tours for a nominal fee. dillongarden.com

Last year, the property next door and former home of Mary Robinson, which had been refurbished with a double height extension, sold for €4.35million. The buyers of 45 Sandford Terrace are also likely to invest in a refurbishment and contemporary upgrade of the house which retains its original layout. As for the gardens, that’s anyone’s guess.