Kildare stud farm sells for €3.35m at auction

A stud farm built from scratch near Newbridge, Co Kildare, attracted five bidders when it was auctioned this week, eventually selling for well over its guide price, writes ORNA MULCAHY, Property Editor

A CO KILDARE stud farm has sold at auction for €3.35 million – €335,000 over its guide price.

Over 50 people showed up at Tuesday’s auction for the 100-acre Castlefarm Stud near the village of Narraghmore, according to Newbridge auctioneer Paddy Jordan of Jordan Town and Country Estate Agents.

A former tillage farm, Castlefarm was redeveloped from scratch in 2002. The property includes a large newly-built house that requires some finishing.

Five bidders chased the property which was declared to be “on the market” at €2.8 million, meaning that the next uncontested bid would have secured it. It is understood that the three underbidders were representing other people from the bloodstock industry.

The buyer is a young Englishman who has been renting a property near The Curragh and is now planning to set up on his own as a breeder.

The price equates to €33,000 per acre which, according to auctioneer Paddy Jordan, is “a result to raise a few eyebrows, considering the changes in the market and the economic climate”.

There was plenty of money in the room, he said, following Tuesday’s sale.

The property includes 20 paddocks with post and rail fencing, yards and stabling, an American barn and a three-bedroom gate lodge as well as a separate staff apartment.

Meanwhile, in Co Wicklow, Lennox Estates has concluded a swap-sale involving a large detached house called Knockranny on Rocky Valley Drive, Kilmacanogue.Knockranny, which stands on 3.9 acres, first came on the market 12 months ago priced at €5 million. The house has been thoroughly overhauled (all 38 windows replaced) and the grounds landscaped. However, with the trade-up market virtually at a standstill, the owners compromised by exchanging it for a smaller house in Monkstown. The deal, which included additional cash, is thought to be worth around €2.5 million.

Meanwhile in Dublin 4, Bennetts Auctioneers recently sold a house at 45 Oaklands Park, Sandymount under the hammer for €652,000. The four-bedroom house had an Advised Minimum Value (AMV) of €625,000.

The auction was one of just 18 held in the city in 2009, with Bennetts, which specialises in Dublin 4, holding five of the auctions.