Residential

Agent buys Rathcoole mansion for fire sale €454,000

A lavish house on Stoney Lane was nearly built when flames destroyed it in 2016

This Rathcoole site of 11.27 acres was bought by Leo Meenagh, who planned a huge house with a swimming pool, underground cinema and five bedroom suites, with walk-in dressing rooms and en-suite bathrooms

Thu Jan 18 2018 - 06:00

It is not every day that the Block notices a 1,115sq m (12,000sq ft) mansion on 11.27 acres in Dublin selling for just €454,000. Built by developer Leo Meenagh who acquired the site in 2006 at the height of the market, the house named Inis Fail on Stoney Lane in Rathcoole was designed to include every possible amenity, including a large indoor swimming pool, underground cinema and games room and five bedroom suites, each with its own walk-in dressing room and en suite bathroom.

It seems a bit of poetic licence was applied however when it came to building the property. The floor size expanded from the 711sq m (7,650sq ft) approved by the local council to the somewhat more substantial 1,115sq m (12,000sq ft) final build. In addition a separate house was constructed 10m (33ft) away from its approved location.

When permission was sought to retain the unauthorised changes in 2014, the council rejected the request – which could have resulted in the demolition of the unauthorised property – but An Bord Pleanála subsequently granted permission for its retention.

Gutted by blaze

However, just two years later, the unoccupied house ultimately met the same fate as the Celtic Tiger economy that inspired its construction, when it went up in flames in June 2016.

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Prior to the fire, the house is understood to have been almost complete, but it was gutted by the blaze to the extent that the remaining structure would require substantial repair works, or possibly even demolition.

Hunters Estate Agents listed the property for sale in 2017 at a mere €275,000, but the residential Property Price Register reveals that the property sold for a significantly higher sum of €454,000 including VAT last October.

That price, about the going rate for a new semi-detached house in the area, is undoubtedly still something of a steal considering the size of the expansive site, along with a potentially repairable shell of a house included. And there are few better testaments to a property representing a good buy than when an estate agent buys it, and the Block understands that agent Ray Cooke, who lives locally, is the canny purchaser.

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